PORTLAND, Ore. — Like many a talented, yet young team before it, the Portland State volleyball team showed flashes of brilliance Thursday night against a quality University of Portland team, but couldn't sustain it in a 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-16, 25-21) loss to the Pilots at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings (3-7) were exceptional in the second set, recording eight of their 15 blocks in the match in that set alone. The Vikings have gone whole matches without recording eight blocks – four this season to be exact – while their 15 blocks stand as the team's second-best mark in a match this season. The Vikings' best blocking total came when they had 16 against Middle Tennessee on Aug. 31, and that was the Vikings' most blocks in a match since Oct. 29, 2016.
 
"I really liked the way we competed," PSU head coach Michael Seemann said after the match. "UP is a good team and their middles are experienced and physically dominant. But I thought we did a good job of taking care of the net. We certainly lost the serve-and-pass game and we need more kill production. But overall, I'm very optimistic and look forward to seeing them again in a couple of days."
 
Thursday's match was only the opening act of a home-and-home series against the Pilots (8-2), after all, as the teams face each other again Saturday at 12 p.m. on the Pilots' home court.
 
The back-to-back matches gives Seemann and his staff the rare opportunity to see how his team improves from one match to the next against the same opponent.
 
"[Getting a second look at UP] is exactly why we scheduled the matches like this. We want to see what we can do now coming in with a greater comfort level as far as what we're dealing with. We know they aren't going to change much, but now we have to do a better job defending them and probably strike the ball a little bit confidently from the end line."
 
The Pilots were always going to be a formidable opponent for the Vikings, as their 8-2 mark to start the season includes wins over three opponents the Vikings have either already faced or will face later this season. The Pilots won, 3-1, against CSUN – a team that beat the Vikings in five sets – and also beat two Big Sky schools in Weber State and Idaho. The Pilots swept the Vandals, who tied for the Big Sky regular-season title and made the Big Sky championship match last season.
 
Additionally, the Pilots entered the match ranked fifth in the country in aces per set, and the Pilots' strength on the serve made itself apparent early Thursday night against the Vikings. The Pilots had three service aces in their first 13 points of the match, and several more serves put the Vikings in tough positions early in points.
 
The Pilots led 20-10 in the first set, when the Vikings finally began to find their way into the match. The Vikings recorded two runs of four straight points in the latter half of the set, including two kills for freshman Jasmine Powell and a kill each from senior Toni McDougald and redshirt sophomore Parker Webb.
 
The late run gave the Vikings momentum at the start of the second set, and the Vikings took advantage with an early 5-0 run that gave them a 13-7 lead. Webb and freshman Julia Haynie combined for a block that made it 11-7 Vikings, while Powell followed with a solo block on the next point to make it 12-7.
 
UP got back within three at 14-11, but the Vikings answered with six straight points out of a timeout to take a commanding lead. Redshirt sophomore Jordan White contributed the last three points of the 6-0 run, as she combined on a block with McDougald, and then recorded two straight kills to make it 20-11 Vikings.
 
White was also part of three straight blocks later in the set that gave the Vikings set point at 24-14. White coupled with McDougald again on the first block, and then followed with two straight blocks alongside Powell. White's second solo block of the match ended the set a few points later, giving the Vikings a 25-16 set victory.
 
White had six blocks individually in the second set, while Powell added four, McDougald two and Webb and Haynie one each.
 
The Pilots responded well in the third set, however, especially the trio of Shayla Hoeft, Liz Reich and Katie Barker, who accounted for 15 of the Pilots' 16 kills in the set between them.
 
The Vikings bounced back with a strong offensive set in the fourth, as they recorded 12 kills after only having seven in the third set.
 
The improved attack helped the Vikings stay with the Pilots, even as the Pilots kept edging ahead. The Vikings and Pilots tied each other seven times in the first half of the fourth set, but the Pilots took the lead again each time.
 
A 3-0 run for UP gave them a 16-13 lead midway through the set, and the Pilots stretched that to a five-point lead at 19-14 following a Portland State timeout. UP still led 22-16 when the Vikings made things interesting with a 4-0 run, the last two points of which came on a solo block from White and a kill from McDougald. Back-to-back kills from the Pilots' Reich and Kassidy Naone gave the Pilots match point at 24-20, however, and Naone converted on the Pilots' second match point to seal it for UP.
 
Statistically, the Vikings actually outhit the Pilots .225-to-.218 in the match, though the Pilots finished with over 50 percent more kills than the Vikings, 62-to-40. The Vikings' .225 hitting percentage was the third-best mark by a UP opponent this season, as the Pilots came into the match leading the West Coast Conference in opponent hitting percentage.
 
McDougald led the Vikings with 12 kills without committing an attack error as she hit .324 against the Pilots. Powell and Webb were each a dig away from double-doubles while contributing 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
 
Freshman libero Ellie Snook finished with a team-high 18 digs in the match, while fellow freshman Caroline Dragani led the Vikings with 36 assists.
 
White led all players with nine blocks in the match between two solos and seven assists. White also had 11 blocks against CSUN last Saturday, when she was making her return from an injury. For the season, White leads the entire Big Sky Conference with 1.85 blocks per set.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 34-20 all time against UP…The Vikings and Pilots had split their last eight matches in the series, however, with Thursday's match being the ninth…Thursday night's match was presented by OnPoint Community Credit Union.