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PORTLAND, Ore. — Any Viking fan who attended both of the Portland State volleyball team's matches at the Les Schwab West Coast Challenge Friday would be excused if Friday night's 3-2 (28-30, 25-22, 25-11, 21-25, 15-11) loss to the Cal Bears out of the Pac-12 conference felt more like a win.
 
The Vikings (1-7) showed vast improvement across the board over their first match of the tournament, a 3-0 loss to Fresno State Friday morning.
 
The Vikings recorded 12 blocks against the Bears (6-2), five more than they had in any other match this season. Additionally, the Vikings committed a season-low three receiving errors in the match, and forced the Bears into committing 29 attack errors, a season-high for a Viking opponent.
 
A number of Viking players had career nights in the match, especially sophomore Parker Webb, who set career highs in kills (15), digs (12) and attacks (45) while finishing with her first-career double-double at Portland State. Senior Katy Wilson was a kill away from her first-career double-double as she had nine kills and a career-high 10 blocks. Wilson's 10 blocks came via two solo blocks and a career-high eight block assists as she led the Vikings' resurgent blocking in the match. Junior outside hitter Toni McDougald also set a career-high with four block assists in the match, and added 10 kills. 
 
Freshman libero Mackenzie Sullivan had a career-high 24 digs in the match, while her freshman classmate Peyton McBride joined her in double-figures with 10 digs, McBride's second straight match with 10+ digs.
 
Senior Jenna Mullen added 14 kills in the match, the fifth time in eight matches this season she's finished with 10+ kills. The Vikings had three players with 10+ kills for the first time this season, and would have had four players in double-figures for the first time since Oct. 26, 2017, if Wilson had recorded one more kill.
 
Beyond all the positive numbers, the Vikings showed improved fight throughout the match, as they repeatedly came back against the Bears. The Vikings gave up early leads in every set but the fifth, and did not hold a lead larger than four in any set. Despite that, the Vikings clawed back for wins in the first and fourth sets, and played competitively in the second and fifth.
 
The Vikings set the tone for the match in the first set, as they fell behind 10-3 but then mounted a comeback to get within one at 10-9. The Vikings took their first lead of the first set at 14-13 when McDougald put a 50-50 ball away at the net. McDougald was huge for the Vikings in the first set, as she and Webb led the Vikings with four kills in the frame, while McDougald added two block assists.
 
The Bears responded to the Vikings' comeback, however, and stretched their lead to four at 23-19 with back-to-back kills from Mima Mirkovic. The Vikings leveled it again at 23-23 with another kill from McDougald, but the Bears countered with a kill from Preslie Anderson to earn their first set point at 24-23.
 
Webb erased the set point with a kill on a loose ball near the net, while McDougald wiped away another set point for the Bears two points later, as she put down an overpass to tie it back up at 25-25.
 
The Vikings earned their first set point off a Cal error at 26-25, only to have the Bears follow with back-to-back kills from Mirkovic and Lauren Forte to earn their third set point at 27-26. McDougald came up with another big kill to erase the set point, while Mullen and Wilson followed with a combo block to give the Vikings their second set point at 28-27. Cal's Carmen Annevelink leveled the match again with a kill, but a Cal attack error gave the Vikings their third set point at 29-28.
 
Sophomore setter Maddy Reeb – who was a dig away from her first-career double-double with 37 assists and nine digs in the match – finally ended the set with a dump off a good pass up from Webb, giving the Vikings the 30-28 set win.
 
The Vikings overcame a similar early deficit in the second set, but the Bears responded to level the match at a set all, 25-22, and then dominated the third set, 25-11, to go up two sets to one.
 
The Vikings fell behind again early in the fourth set, as the Bears took a 13-10 lead on back-to-back PSU attack errors midway through the set. The Vikings responded with five straight points to take their first lead in the set, with Webb accounting for two of the five points with a pair of kills.
 
The Bears retook the lead at 17-15, but the Vikings followed with another 5-0 run to take a 20-17 lead, punctuated by back-to-back service aces from Webb. The Bears' Bailee Huizenga snapped the run with a kill, but Wilson took over the set from there for the Vikings. Wilson converted a middle attack for her fifth kill of the set to put the Vikings up 22-18, and then added her sixth kill two points later to put the Vikings up 23-19.
 
The Bears got back within two at 23-21, but Mullen and Webb countered with back-to-back kills to seal the set for the Vikings at 25-21.
 
The Vikings finally jumped out to an early lead in the fifth set, as they scored four straight points to go up 4-1 on the Bears. Webb and McDougald each recorded a kill and assisted on a block with Wilson in the run, while Wilson followed with a kill down the right sideline to put the Vikings up 5-2 a little later.
 
Cal scored six of the next eight points to go up 8-7 at the changeover in the fifth set, but the Vikings responded with two straight points – the second coming on Reeb's second service ace of the match – to retake the lead at 9-8.
 
Back-to-back kills followed by back-to-back blocks for Cal put the Bears up for good at 12-9, and the Bears closed out the match a few points later at 15-11 in the fifth set.
 
The Vikings will now look to convert Friday's moral victory against the Bears into a counting win when they host Gonzaga to close out the Les Schwab West Coast Challenge at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The Zags won both of their matches at the tournament Friday, beating Cal in five sets and Fresno State in four.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fall to 2-4 all-time against the Bears with Friday's loss…The Bears were the third Pac-12 team the Vikings have faced this season, as the Vikings also played then-No. 18 Oregon (L, 3-0 on Aug. 28) and Oregon State (L, 3-0 on Aug. 31)…The Vikings are 96-81-1 all-time against Pac-12 opponents, but just 5-39 all-time since the Vikings turned Division I in 1996.