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PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State volleyball team can take its cue from Dory in Finding Nemo and go ahead and forget about its match against Fresno State Friday to open the Les Schwab West Coast Challenge at the Viking Pavilion.
 
The Bulldogs (7-1), who have been performing well under first-year head coach Jonathan Winder – a former assistant at the University of Washington – swept the Vikings, 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 26-24), Friday, handing the Vikings their sixth straight loss and fourth straight sweep.
 
The good news for the Vikings (1-6) is that the last time the Vikings lost six matches in a row during a single season was 2014, and the Vikings went on to make the Big Sky tournament that season.
 
The Vikings can take momentum from how they finished the match, as the Bulldogs led 19-11 in the third set and were on the verge of a sweep when the Vikings mounted a comeback. The Vikings won nine of the next 12 points to make it 22-20, forcing Winder to take his second timeout of the set.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Parker Webb had two kills for the Vikings in the run, while Katy Wilson, Toni McDougald and Peyton McBride all contributed a kill as well.
 
McDougald followed the Fresno State timeout with a service ace to make it 22-21, and Webb answered a Fresno State kill with her fourth of the set to make it 23-22 two points later. Webb recorded her fifth kill to save the first match point the Vikings faced at 24-22, and the Vikings saved a second match point off one of the best rallies of the match when Fresno State sent an attack into the net to make it 24-24.
 
The Bulldogs responded to the Vikings' comeback, however, as Fresno State's Jessica Gilbert put down two straight kills to seal the match.
 
The Bulldogs took control of the match early in the first set, when an 8-1 Bulldog run turned an 8-7 match into a 16-8 Bulldog lead. Fresno State senior Taylor Slover had five kills in the run, including four in a row to end it.
 
Serving errors cost the Vikings in the first set, as they had five in the frame. The service errors were the difference early in the first set, as the Vikings committed their fourth service error to give Fresno State a four-point lead at 12-8.
 
Serve reception then became the issue in the second set, as the Bulldogs used five service aces in the middle of the set to turn a 5-4 lead into a runaway at 18-7.
 
Webb led the Vikings with nine kills on 22 attacks against three errors, giving her a .273 hitting percentage for the match. Wilson and senior Jenna Mullen were next on the team with four kills each.
 
McBride led the Vikings with 10 digs in the match, while sophomore Maddy Reeb recorded 18 assists while playing the whole match at setter.
 
The Vikings will need to do their best Dory impression this evening, as they come back to face Cal out of the Pac-12 at 7:30 p.m. 
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fall to 7-2 all-time against Fresno State with the loss…Fresno State has won two in a row in the series, after they beat the Vikings in five sets in Fresno in 2016…Senior Haley Glass started the match at libero for the Vikings…Senior Sarah Brennan started the second and third sets for the Vikings in her first action of the season.