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LAS VEGAS – The Vikings dropped their final match at the Rebels Challenge falling 3-1 to the Southeastern Louisiana Saturday morning in Las Vegas, Nev.
 
The Lady Lions took the match by scores of 25-20, 16-25, 25-20, and 26-24 to improve to 3-6 overall while the Vikings fell to 3-6 with the loss.
 
Freshman OH Eva Linden continues to improve each match for the Vikings as she recorded her first career double-double Saturday. Linden posted career highs in kills with 19 and digs with 13 and has produced double-digit kills in each of the last six matches. Over the three matches in Vegas this weekend, Linden averaged 4.08 kills and 2.00 digs per set and added five aces and six blocks.
 
Fellow freshman OH Jenna Mullen added a career-high 16 kills for the Vikings along with six digs and three blocks in the match. Sophomore L Tasha Bojanic tallied a career-high 23 digs, the most by a Viking this season.
 
SELU came out swinging in the first set hitting .423. The Vikings struggled out of the gate hitting just .161 as the Lady Lions took the first set 25-20.
 
The second set went back and forth with 10 ties and seven lead changes over the first 26 points as the teams were knotted at 13-13. Portland State then took control and went on a 12-3 run over the second half of the set to win 25-16. Linden and Mullen each tallied five kills in the set as the Vikings committed just one hitting error.
 
With the score tied 19-19 late in the third set, the Vikings got caught in the wrong rotation as the Lady Lions took six of the final seven points to win 25-20 and go up 2-1 in the match.
 
Portland State found itself facing match point at 24-21 late in the fourth set but four straight points by the Vikings tied the set at 24-24. An untimely service error by PSU put the Lady Lions up one before a kill gave them the 26-24 win in the fourth and the win in the match.
 
The Vikings hit the road once again next weekend when they head to the Lone Star Showdown hosted by Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. The Vikings will face Texas Tech, Northwestern State, and Washington State at the Showdown.
 
NOTES: Eva Linden recorded her first career double-double with career highs in kills with 19 and digs with 13 … Tasha Bojanic recorded a career-high 23 digs.