PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State volleyball team ran up against a good team Saturday afternoon at Viking Pavilion, as the Vikings lost 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-16) to the conference leaders in Northern Colorado.
 
The Bears (14-6 overall) improved to 8-0 in Big Sky play with the win, with five of those eight wins coming in three sets. The Bears entered the match as the Big Sky leaders in assists per set, kills per set and aces per set, and won all three of those statistical battles against the Vikings (7-12, 3-5 Big Sky) Saturday.
 
The Bears were near-perfect in the first set, as they recorded 16 kills on only 28 swings while hitting .500 in the set. The Viking defense, a strength all season for the Vikings, wasn't able to have much affect on the Bears early on. The Vikings failed to record a block in the first set, while the team only had nine digs in the opening frame.
 
The first PSU block came with the Vikings down 3-2 in the second set with redshirt sophomores Parker Webb and Jordan White combining on the right side of the net. The Vikings inched ahead two points later with a kill from senior Toni McDougald that made it 4-3 in the second set. Another kill from McDougald made it 5-4 Vikings, while a kill from freshman Jasmine Powell leveled it again at 6-6.
 
That's where the Bears took over, however, as they went on a 5-1 run to go up 11-7, and then used another 5-1 run a little later to go up 17-10.
 
The Bears remained in control for the rest of the match, closing out the second set 25-17, and then cruising in the third set after going up 11-3 early.
 
Statistically, the Bears outhit the Vikings .326-to-.108 in the match, the first time the Vikings have allowed an opponent to hit over .300 since their 3-0 loss to then-No. 19 Utah on Sept. 6.
 
Webb led the Vikings with nine kills against the Bears, and was also second on the team with nine digs. Powell followed Webb with six kills to go with five digs, while McDougald recorded five kills in only two sets of play.
 
Freshman libero Ellie Snook, the top-ranked freshman in the nation with an average of 5.43 digs per set coming into the match, was held to only 10 digs, though she was only one off her career high for assists with eight. Freshman setter Caroline Dragani led the Vikings with 16 assists.
 
The Vikings remain home for their next match, as they host Montana State at 7 p.m. this coming Thursday, Oct. 24.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 20-15 all time against the Bears with the loss…The Bears have won six of the last seven against the Vikings.