SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Take a selfie of the carpet at PDX, Vikings. You'll be home soon enough.
 
The Portland State volleyball team wrapped up a three-match road trip with a 3-0 loss to Sacramento State at The Nest. The Nest has been a house of horrors for the Vikings in recent years, and it fulfilled that role again Tuesday night as the Hornets assured the Vikings of an 0-3 road trip with the sweep.
 
The bright side for the Vikings (7-11, 3-4 Big Sky) was that the team got better through each set of the match. The second and third sets were decided by only two points at 25-23 and 27-25, respectively, and the Vikings fought off two match points before taking a set point of their own in the third set.
 
The Hornets (10-10, 5-2 Big Sky) had the much more potent attack Tuesday, however, as they out-killed the Vikings 51-to-30 while outhitting the Vikings .238-to-.208.
 
Kill production has been something the Vikings have struggled with at times this season, and it reared its head again in the first set Tuesday night. The Hornets out-killed the Vikings 16-to-7 in the first set, six of which came in an 11-1 run that turned an 8-5 PSU lead into a 16-9 advantage for the Hornets.
 
Things got better in the second set, as the Vikings upped their kill total to 10 while hitting .242 in the set. Additionally, the Viking defense picked itself up in the second set, as the Vikings forced the Hornets into 10 attack errors while recording four blocks.
 
Two kills for redshirt sophomore Parker Webb preceded two attack errors from the Hornets, giving the Vikings a 4-0 run that put them up 15-14 in the second set. Freshman Jasmine Powell then capped a mini, 3-1 run with back-to-back kills that put the Vikings up 20-17. The Hornets came back to tie it at 21-21, but back-to-back blocks gave the Vikings the lead back at 23-21. The final momentum swing belonged to the Hornets, however, as they closed out the set with four straight points, two of which came on service aces.
 
The Hornets aced the Vikings 10 times in the match, only the fourth time an opponent has recorded 10 or more aces against the Vikings this season.
 
The Vikings continued to improve in the third set, as they hit .237 while recording 13 kills in the set.
 
The Vikings led 7-5 early in the set, but then lost seven straight points to fall behind 12-7. The Hornets stretched that to a six-point lead a little later, and still led 20-14 when the Vikings started a comeback. The Vikings won seven of the next nine points to get back within one at 22-21, the last two points coming on back-to-back kills from Webb.
 
Webb recorded another kill to save the Hornets' first match point at 24-22 while redshirt sophomore Jordan White and senior Mary Jo McBride followed with a block to erase the second and tie it again at 24-24. Another block between White and McBride gave the Vikings set point at 25-24, but the Hornets won the next three points to close out the match.
 
Webb and senior Toni McDougald accounted for 20 of the Vikings' 30 kills between them, with both players recording 10 kills each. Webb added 10 digs Tuesday, giving Webb her second straight double-double and sixth of the season.
 
Freshman libero Ellie Snook led the Vikings in digs once again with 16, while McBride played the whole match at setter and led the Vikings with 26 assists. White led the Vikings with seven blocks against the Hornets, followed by McDougald with five, McBride with four and freshman Julia Haynie with three.
 
The Vikings return home for a match against Northern Colorado Saturday, which will begin at 12 p.m. (PT) at Viking Pavilion.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 22-47 all time against Sacramento State with Tuesday's loss…The Hornets extended their winning streak over the Vikings to 10 matches…The Vikings recorded 10 blocks in their match Tuesday, the eighth time out of 18 matches this season that the Vikings have recorded at least 10 blocks…The Vikings fell to 2-6 in away matches this season.