PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State volleyball team won its second straight five-setter Saturday night against Southern Utah. But whereas Thursday's five-set win over the defending conference champions from Northern Arizona showed the Vikings' potential, Saturday's five-setter against Southern Utah showed the Vikings had nerves of steel.

The Vikings (7-8, 3-1 Big Sky) won 19-17 in the fifth set after fighting off a match point at 14-13. The 19-17 fifth-set score marked the longest fifth set for the Vikings since the Vikings lost 19-17 in the fifth set against Idaho State on Sept. 22, 2005.
 
The Vikings also played an extended set in the opening frame against the Thunderbirds (9-7, 2-2 Big Sky), as the Vikings fought off eight set points before winning 33-31. That marked the longest regular set for the Vikings since Oct. 24, 2015, when the Vikings won 34-32 in the third set of an eventual 3-1 win over Montana State.
 
"I was very happy with the way that we played the fifth set aggressively. Win or lose, we were going down swinging and making plays and that was awesome. And again, that was another step forward for a young team," head coach Michael Seemann said afterwards.
 
Saturday's five-setter meant a number of the Vikings who had set historic performances Thursday against NAU topped them just two days later against Southern Utah.
 
Freshman libero Ellie Snook, who tied a career high with 30 digs against NAU, recorded the third-most digs in a match ever by a Viking while totaling 39 digs against the Thunderbirds. Seven of Snook's 39 digs came in the fifth set, while she also had 10 digs in the third and 12 digs in the fourth.
 
Freshman outside hitter Jasmine Powell also came close to a 20-20 match for the second straight match, recording 18 kills and 24 digs against the Thunderbirds, after she had 19 kills and 26 digs against NAU Thursday. Powell's 26 digs against NAU were the most by a Viking outside hitter since Sept. 10, 2011, and yet she came within two digs of matching it two days later against the Thunderbirds. Powell finished the weekend with 37 kills and 50 digs between the Vikings' two five-setters, giving her averages of 3.7 kills and 5.0 digs per set over the weekend.
 
Powell's near-20-20 match was one of four double-doubles for the Vikings against the Thunderbirds. The Vikings hadn't had four players finish with double-doubles since Oct. 2, 2010, before this season, but have now done it three times in 2019, including twice in a row between their match against NAU Thursday and Southern Utah Saturday.
 
Senior outside hitter Toni McDougald added one of the other double-doubles for the Vikings Saturday, as she recorded a career-high 23 kills to go with 10 digs. McDougald's 23 kills are the most by a Viking this season, as well as the most since Pati Anae had 23 kills in a four-set match against Southern Utah on Oct. 15, 2016. 
 
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Parker Webb added another double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs, giving her four double-doubles on the year and two in a row. Webb has also recorded 10 or more kills in eight of the Vikings' past nine matches.
 
Freshman setter Caroline Dragani, meanwhile, set a new career-high with 53 assists while recording her second straight double-double with 10 digs. Dragani also had 51 assists against NAU Thursday, giving her two matches with 50-plus assists after no Viking freshman setter had topped the mark since Garyn Schlatter, who had 50 assists against Montana on Nov. 26, 2010.
 
Neither team could establish much momentum early in the first set until Southern Utah strung five straight points together to take a 24-21 lead. McDougald responded with three straight kills to get the Vikings level again at 24-24, however, and the Vikings would go up 26-25 a little later with a kill from Powell.
 
Neither team could get across the finish line after that, as the Vikings saved four set points after it went past 25 points, while the Thunderbirds saved two of their own. Powell, McDougald and Webb all saved set points for the Vikings, as a kill from Powell made it 27-27, while another from McDougald made it 28-28 and a third from Webb made it 30-30. Webb saved SUU's final set point with another kill that made it 31-31, and then recorded a solo block to give the Vikings their third set point at 32-31. The Vikings converted this time around, with McDougald providing the necessary point off her ninth kill of the set.
 
Whatever momentum the Vikings earned with the close win in the first set quickly disappeared, however, as Southern Utah held the Vikings to a negative hitting percentage in the second set while winning 25-10. It was almost the exact opposite situation in the third set, as the Vikings forced Southern Utah to 12 attack errors while winning 25-12.
 
"We did a good job of resetting throughout the match," Seemann said. "Certainly after set two, we just said, 'wipe it out. Let's come back out with a whole new attitude,' and we did exactly that."
 
The fourth set appeared to be following a similar path as the second, as the Thunderbirds took a 15-9 lead with a 5-1 run in the middle of the set. The Thunderbirds still led by seven points at 23-16, when the Vikings finally found their groove with a 7-1 run of their own. The Vikings saved four set points after SUU went up 24-19 in the fourth, but the Thunderbirds converted on their fifth set point, winning 25-23 off a kill from Raegan Ashby.
 
The late comeback in the fourth gave the Vikings momentum at the start of the fifth, as the Vikings won the first six points of the set. Momentum swung back to the Thunderbirds from there, however, as they won eight of the next 11 points to get back within one at 9-8. The Vikings still didn't trail in the fifth set until a PSU attack error gave the Thunderbirds a match point at 14-13.
 
Snook made a gutsy call on match point, letting a bomber serve from Southern Utah's Shannon Webb go long to make it 14-14. It worked out for the Vikings, but it was still a gutsy call for Snook to make, especially since she had a similar play go against her to make it 11-11 earlier in the set.
 
A combo block between Dragani and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Jordan White gave the Vikings their first match point at 15-14. Southern Utah saved that point with a block out of a timeout, however, and would save two more match points to make it 16-16 and 17-17.
 
The Vikings went back ahead each time the Thunderbirds tied it, though, and went back up 18-17 with a kill from Powell. This time, the Vikings would finally converted on what was their fourth match point, as Powell blocked Southern Utah's Katie Montgomery to close out the win.
 
White finished with six blocks between two solos and four assists, and also recorded five kills.
 
The Vikings now turn their attention to a three-match road trip, as they play at Weber State, Idaho State and Sacramento State on Oct. 10, 12 and 15, respectively. The Vikings open the road trip against the Wildcats, who they'll face at 7 p.m. (MT) this coming Thursday.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 12-3 all time against Southern Utah with the win…The Vikings won despite being outhit .197-to.202, the first time the Vikings have won while being outhit since Oct. 21, 2017…Snook's 39 digs were the most by a Viking since Kasimira Clark had 41 digs against Sacramento State on Sept. 15, 2012…Powell has seven double-doubles in the Vikings' 15 matches this season.