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GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Senior outside hitter Cheyne Corrado posted a career-high 23 kills but it was not enough as Portland State dropped a tough five-setter to North Dakota Thursday night in Grand Forks, N.D. UND took the match by scores of 25-21, 21-25, 25-27, 26-24, and 15-6.
 
Portland State (5-14 overall, 3-4 Big Sky Conference) was up 20-14 in the fourth set up 2-1. North Dakota (17-7, 6-1) came all the way back to tie the set at 23-23 before taking it 26-24 to tie the match and force a decisive fifth set.
 
Portland State led 6-5 in the fifth but was unable to get any kind of rhythm going offensively. North Dakota closed out the match on a 10-0 run to win 15-6 in the fifth.
 
Corrado did all that she could do for the Vikings and bested her previous career high of 18 kills. She hit .217 for the match and added a season-high 17 digs for her team-leading sixth double-double of the season. Corrado became the first Vikings to tally 20-plus kills in a match since Megan Ellis posted 20 against Montana on Oct. 25, 2012.
 
Corrado has come on of late and has led the Vikings in kills in seven of the last eight matches including posting 15-plus kills in each of the last three. She is averaging 3.93 kills per set in Big Sky Conference play.
 
Portland State libero Kasimira "Kasi" Clark made a huge push to become the Vikings' all-time leader in career digs with a season-high 36 Thursday night. Kasi Clark entered the match 99 digs shy of Eavi Shovlin's mark of 1,742. Kasi Clark now has 1,679.  
 
Clark led the way with 36 digs but three other Vikings also posted double-digit digs. Corrado added 17 for her double-double while Erin Clark posted 20 assists and 11 digs for her second career double-double. Tasha Bojanic added a career-high 19 digs. It was the first time since Sept. 13, 2013 against Arizona that the Vikings had three players with 15-or-more digs.
 
As a team, the Vikings posted 104 digs, their highest since posting 105 as Sacramento State on Sept. 15, 2012.
 
The first set stayed close with neither team able to build up much of a lead. With the score tied at 20-20, North Dakota was able to string together four straight before taking the first set 25-21.
 
The story reversed itself in the second set. After being tied at 19-19, Portland State put together its own run to take the second set 25-21 to even the match at 1-1.
 
The Vikings were down 21-17 late the third set before going on a 4-1 run to tie it at 22-22. The teams traded points before Corrado gave the Vikings set point at 24-23. UND scored the next two to set up its own set point at 25-24. Corrado tied it at 25-25 before an ace from Erin Clark gave the Vikings set point again, this time at 26-25. Corrado ended it with another kill to put the Vikings up 2-1.
 
The Vikings led 20-16 late in the fourth but were unable to close out the match with a win in the frame. North Dakota came back to tie it at 23-23 after a 9-3 run. UND then scored three of the next four to even the match with a 26-24 win in the fourth.
 
North Dakota finished the fifth set on a 10-0 run to take it 15-5 to complete the comeback.
 
The Vikings remain winless on the road this season and are now 0-7. It was the first time since The Vikings lost to UC Irvine in 2011 that they lost a match when leading 2-1.
 
The Vikings will look to get back on track Saturday when they take on Sacramento State in Sacramento starting at 7 p.m. 
 
NOTES: Kasimira "Kasi" Clark tallied a season-high 39 digs … Cheyne Corrado posted a career-high 23 kills … Corrado added 17 digs for her sixth double-double … Corrado became first Viking since 2012 with 20-plus kills … PSU had three players with 15 digs for first time since 2013 against Arizona … PSU lost a match when up 2-1 for the first time since 2011 … Emani Jackson made her first career start.