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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Portland State volleyball team got progressively better throughout its match against Northern Arizona Saturday, but the Lumberjacks closed the door on the Vikings in three sets, winning 25-15, 25-20, 28-26 at the Rolle Activity Center.
 
The Vikings (4-20, 3-9 Big Sky) hit over .200 in the second and third sets against the Lumberjacks (17-8, 9-3 Big Sky), as they found their way into the match after being held to .000 hitting with eight kills against eight errors in the first set. The 'Jacks, who are now only a half game back from Big Sky-leading Idaho in the conference standings, hit .327 for the match, and went over .400 in the first and second sets.
 
The Vikings held the Lumberjacks to just .174 hitting in the third set, however, and outhit them .208-to-.174 as they played their best set of the match in the third.
 
The Vikings trailed by three points at 16-13 midway through the third set, before a 4-1 PSU run behind two kills from junior Toni McDougald brought the Vikings back level at 17-17. The Vikings took their first lead since it was 5-4 earlier in the set when freshman Peyton McBride put down her fifth kill of the match to put the Vikings up 19-18.
 
The Lumberjacks came back with three straight points to retake the lead at 21-19, but back-to-back kills from senior Katy Wilson tied it up again at 21-21. Two straight kills from McDougald and Maddy Reeb gave the Vikings set point at 24-23 a few points later, and the Vikings earned their second set point at 25-24 on another kill from McDougald.
 
The teams traded service errors to give the Vikings a third set point at 26-25, but the Lumberjacks scored the final three points of the match – two on blocks at the net – to close out the victory.
 
Senior Jenna Mullen joined McDougald and Wilson with eight kills in the match, tying them all for the team lead. McBride led the Vikings with 11 digs to go along with six kills in the match, while freshman libero Mackenzie Sullivan finished with 10 digs.
 
Sophomore setter Maddy Reeb hit the 30-assist benchmark for the fifth time in the past six matches while finishing with four kills and eight digs to go with her 30 assists.
 
The Vikings return home for a pair of matches against Idaho and Eastern Washington next weekend at the Viking Pavilion. The Vikings host the league-leading Vandals Thursday, Nov. 1, and then play the Eagles Saturday, Nov. 3.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 20-28 all time against the Lumberjacks with the loss Saturday…The Lumberjacks have won 11 of their last 12 matches against the Vikings…Wilson finished the weekend with a .307 career hitting percentage, putting her five percentage points above the current Division I career record that Lana Zielke set at .302 from 2008-10.