PORTLAND, Ore. — Best of seven anyone? The Portland State volleyball team improved in each set of its match against Nevada Friday night at Viking Pavilion, but time ran out on the Vikings as Nevada closed out a 3-0 sweep in the nightcap of the Les Schwab Rose City Showdown.
 
The Wolf Pack (6-2) ran away with the first set, 25-14, but then had to fight off a persistent Viking team in the second and third sets. Nevada won both sets, 25-17 and 25-22, respectively, but the Vikings (3-5) were playing their best ball at the end of the match. 
 
"I'm glad we fought at the end there. In the past, I feel like we would have just handed it to them, but I think we did a good job of ramping it up and picking it up a gear," head coach Michael Seemann said afterwards.
 
"Among the positives tonight was that we didn't break down offensively. I thought we still got production. We didn't hit as well [as our first match] obviously, but that's a good team [Nevada].
 
"Defensively, I thought we did a good job of getting them outside of system, but then their outsides scored out of system at will. That's the piece that's a little disappointing, but again, Nevada's a really good team. Hopefully we can get to a point where we're better at that. We've got to get better at just blocking responsibilities and picking up our hitter sooner and playing the game a little faster in transition."
 
Nevada – a team that also beat Big Sky power Sacramento State at the Hornets' home tournament earlier in the season – held the Vikings to a negative hitting percentage in the first set. The Vikings, who had been so efficient in their 3-2 win over Morgan State earlier in the day, committed eight attack errors in the first set alone, more than half of the total they had in five sets against the Lady Bears.
 
The Vikings improved their mark in the second set, hitting .235 with 11 kills against only three errors. Outside hitters Parker Webb and Toni McDougald each had four kills for the Vikings in the second set without committing an attack error. Webb recorded her four kills on 13 swings, while McDougald only needed seven attacks to total her four.
 
Still, a 4-1 Nevada run near the stat of the set stretched a small Wolf Pack lead into a 13-8 advantage, and the Vikings wouldn't get closer than four points the rest of the way. Just as it was for the Vikings, the second set was also the best offensive set of the match for the Wolf Pack, who hit .415 as a team in the set with 20 kills against only three errors.
 
The Wolf Pack used another early run to take control of the third set, as Nevada scored eight straight points to go up 15-7. The Vikings found life after that, however, as they won 10 of the next 14 points to get back within two at 19-17. Freshman middle blocker Riley Daniel started the Vikings' run with a kill from setter Mary Jo McBride, and then added back-to-back solo blocks for an individual 3-0 run.
 
Daniel recorded another kill to get the Vikings within three at 23-20, while freshman outside hitter Jasmine Powell added a solo block a few points later to make it 24-22. The Wolf Packs' Kayla Afoa ended the match on the next point, however, putting down one of her match-high 11 kills to seal it for Nevada.
 
Webb tied Afoa for the match high with 11 kills of her own while adding eight digs for the Vikings. Webb's 11 kills came against only attack error, as she hit .286 in the match. Powell followed Webb with eight kills for the Vikings to go with six digs, while McDougald chipped in six kills and five digs.
 
Freshman libero Ellie Snook tied her counterpart from Nevada, Ryan Blackwood, for a match high in digs with 16.
 
Freshman setter Caroline Dragani was a dig away from her second straight double-double as she had 21 assists and nine digs.
 
The Vikings close out the Les Schwab Rose City Showdown with a final match tomorrow, when they'll face CSUN at 1 p.m. (PT).
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 6-2 all time against Nevada with the loss…Nevada held the Vikings to three team blocks in the match, the Vikings' lowest total of the season.