PORTLND, Ore. — If you were looking for a match to show you the potential of this young Portland State volleyball team, you couldn't ask for a better one than Thursday night. The Vikings handed defending conference champion Northern Arizona its first Big Sky loss in its last 13 conference matches, beating the Lumberjacks, 3-2 (25-18, 25-27, 27-25, 16-25, 15-9) at Viking Pavilion in a match presented by OnPoint Community Credit Union.
 
"We went into this match making sure that we were going to give absolutely full effort and play without pressure of having to be perfect. In doing so, I think we played a little freer than we have in the past," head coach Michael Seemann said afterwards. "We let some of our individual athleticism come out a little bit, but I was also really proud of how well we competed as a team.
 
The Vikings (6-8, 2-1 Big Sky) had only beaten the Lumberjacks once in their previous 12 tries, and did so Thursday while showing tremendous growth from the week before. Exactly a week after the Vikings let late leads slip away on the road against Idaho, they came back from late deficits in the second and third sets, and took the fifth set after NAU (9-6, 2-1 Big Sky) had played its best set of the match in the fourth.
 
The Vikings nearly won every statistical category as they outhit the Lumberjacks .176-to-.166 while recording more kills (62-to-59), more blocks (12-to-11) and more aces (10-to-4). NAU came into the match leading the Big Sky in every offensive statistical category, making the Vikings' head-to-head wins in each category all the more impressive.
 
The one category that the Vikings didn't win was digs, as the Lumberjacks repeatedly dug good hits from the Vikings while winning the dig battle 120-to-99. The Viking hitters were relentless in spite of NAU's good defensive performance, however, especially in the decisive fifth set. The NAU defense had just held the Vikings to only seven kills in the fourth set, but the Vikings bounced back and outhit the Lumberjacks .208-to-.062 while recording eight kills in the fifth set.
 
"We just stayed steady, and I think we were determined," Seemann said. "I felt like we stayed determined throughout the match and instead of folding or giving up, we certainly didn't do either."
 
The determination came from all over the court for the Vikings as the team had four players record 10 or more kills for the first time this season. Freshman Jasmine Powell led the way with 19 kills, while redshirt sophomore Parker Webb recorded 15, senior Toni McDougald recorded 14, and redshirt sophomore Jordan White recorded a career-high 13 kills in the match.
 
Powell played beyond her years in the match, as she recorded 26 digs to go with her 19 kills, giving her the most digs by an outside hitter for the Vikings since Megan Ellis and Cheyne Corrado had 30 and 27 digs, respectively, against UC Irvine on Sept. 10, 2011.
 
Powell now has six double-doubles in 14 matches so far this season, while three other players added their own double-doubles Thursday in Webb (15 kills, 13 digs), McDougald (14 kills, 17 digs) and freshman setter Caroline Dragani (51 assists, 12 digs). McDougald's 17 digs marked a new career high for her, while Dragani's 51 assists stand as the most assists by a Viking freshman in at least 10 years. Dragani had one more assist than Garyn Schlatter – the 2013 Big Sky MVP – had in her best match as a freshman in 2010 (50 assists against Montana on Nov. 26, 2010).
 
The Vikings showed their determination early in the match as they jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first set against the Lumberjacks. Defense, as it was throughout the night, was the theme early for the Vikings, as they recorded four blocks in their first seven points of the match. NAU started to inch back in the set from there, but Dragani distributed the ball well as Webb, McDougald, Powell and White all had at least two kills after the 13-3 mark as the Vikings close out the first set, 25-18.
 
The Vikings ran out to an 11-7 lead at the start of the second set, and still led 18-14 when NAU took its second timeout of the set. The Lumberjacks found their quality at that point, going on a 7-0 run to flip the second set on its head and take a 21-18 lead. But whereas a long run like that would have likely deflated the Vikings earlier in the season, the young Vikings showed how much they've grown and responded with their own late run to get back in the set. The Vikings fought off three straight set points after NAU took a 24-21 lead, and fought off another after NAU went up 25-24. The Lumberjacks ended up winning the set, 27-25, but the Vikings' determination would show itself again late in the third set.
 
Down 22-19 in the third set, the Vikings rattled off five straight points on freshman Sophia Tuliau's serve to take a 24-22 lead. NAU saved two set points to make it 24-24, and then a third when the Vikings went up 25-24. NAU's set-point saves didn't worry the Vikings, however, and they converted on their fourth set point when Dragani hit an ace off NAU's Jasmine West.
 
NAU's defense was impenetrable in the fourth set, as they recorded 30 digs in that set alone while holding the Vikings to only seven kills. The NAU offense also had its highest kill production of any set in the fourth, recording 17 kills on .220 hitting.
 
Neither team established much of an advantage at the start of the fifth set. The Vikings won the first three points, but NAU responded with a 5-2 run to get back level again at 5-all. It was still 8-all when the Vikings strung two points together behind a combo block between Powell and freshman Julia Haynie, and a service ace from Dragani.
 
A service error snapped the mini-run for the Vikings and made it 10-9, but the Vikings wouldn't give up another point from there. Powell began a closing 5-0 run for the Vikings with a kill, while McDougald followed with her final kill of the night. Two NAU attack errors then got the Vikings to match point, and Powell would convert right away with a service ace off NAU's West.
 
The Vikings now turn their attention to a quality Southern Utah team that also improved to 2-1 in Big Sky play Thursday night after beating traditional conference power Sacramento State in five sets. The Vikings and Thunderbirds will face off at 7 p.m. (PT) Saturday.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 21-28 all time against Northern Arizona with their win Thursday…The Vikings are 2-2 in their last four matches against the Lumberjacks, after NAU had won nine straight against the Vikings…Four players recorded double-doubles for the second time this season, a feat that no Viking team had done since Oct. 2, 2010, before this season…The Vikings had four players record 10 or more kills for the first time since Oct. 26, 2017…Saturday's match against Southern Utah will NOT have a live video broadcast due to a conflict with a Viking football game…Viking play-by-play announcer Teri Mariani will have a live audio stream available instead.