BOZEMAN, Mont. — Competition has been an emphasis for the Portland State volleyball team since Day One of Fall Camp, and that emphasis has been paying the Vikings dividends all season. The Vikings earned another one Saturday, as they fought off set points in the first and third sets, before closing out Montana State in four, 3-1 (34-32, 17-25, 27-25, 25-17), at Shroyer Gym.
 
The Vikings (13-6, 7-1 Big Sky) saved five set points in winning the first set, 34-32, then saved another set point in winning the third set, 27-25. The Vikings overcame large deficits in both sets, too. The Vikings trailed 22-18 late in the first set before scoring the next six points in a row. The Vikings then fell behind 6-1 early in the third set, and still trailed 17-14, before taking their first lead of the set with a 6-1 run.
 
The competitive fire has been something the Vikings have shown time and time again this season. The Vikings have five wins in which they dropped the opening set, and overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat Montana in five set two days earlier.
 
"We stayed aggressive in those tense moments, near the end of the sets, and made good decisions," head coach Michael Seemann said afterwards. "This match was about turning their tips and shots into transition kills, which is what we did really well at the end of the first and third sets, as well as in set four. I was happy with our serving, and offensively, we were making good decisions."
 
The Vikings have now swept their last two Big Sky road weekends as part of their seven-match winning streak overall. The Vikings hadn't swept a Big Sky road weekend since 2017 before doing so against Idaho and Eastern Washington two weekends ago. The Vikings hadn't swept the Montana schools on the road since 2013, as the Vikings continue to make history with their recent play.
 
The most important piece of history comes from the Vikings' 7-1 record in Big Sky play – a mark the Vikings haven't hit since they started the 2012 season 14-1. The Bobcats (9-10, 5-3 Big Sky) had a chance to tie the Vikings in the standings if they had won Saturday, but instead fell to fifth while the Vikings remained tied with Northern Colorado for second behind defending Big Sky champion Weber State.
 
A number of Vikings contributed to keeping the team near the top of the standings. Makayla Lewis and Gabby Hollins both recorded a match-high 18 kills, while Parker Webb added 16 kills on .300 hitting to go with five blocks. Lewis and Webb both added 12 digs to their kill totals Saturday, giving them the seventh and fourth double-doubles of their seasons, respectively. Hollins' 18 kills marked a new season high for the sophomore.
 
All three hitters contributed late in the first set. Webb had two kills and a block alongside Genevieve Florig as part of the Vikings' 6-0 run that turned a 22-18 deficit into a 24-22 lead. Hollins then had three kills in the bonus part of the set, including two that erased set points with the Bobcats leading 25-24 and 27-26. Webb erased a set point with a kill at 26-25, while Lewis negated the Bobcats' final set point with a kill after they had led 31-30. Webb followed a little later with a kill that gave the Vikings their sixth set point, and the team converted this time after MSU sent a ball out.
 
The 34-32 score line marked the longest set for the Vikings since they also won a set 34-32 in another 3-1 win over Montana State on Oct. 24, 2015. 
 
The Bobcats responded with an easy victory in the second set, and then jumped out to a big lead early in the third set. Webb helped lead the Vikings back with three kills over a four-point stretch that saw Portland State level the set at 18-all. Kills from Florig and Hollins followed that gave the Vikings a 20-18 lead, and Lewis recorded a kill a few points later that earned the Vikings set point at 24-23.
 
The Bobcats erased that set point with a kill, however, then took one of their own with an ace that made it 25-24. The Vikings forced an MSU attack error following a timeout that erased the Bobcats' set point, then earned their second set point with the fourth kill of the set from Webb. Another Montana State attack error followed out of a Bobcat timeout, giving the Vikings a crucial 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The Bobcats stayed with the Vikings at the start of the fourth set until the Vikings started to roll late in the frame. The Vikings led by just one at 16-15, but won nine of the last 11 points to close out the set and the match. Hollins recorded three kills in the Vikings' run to finish off the Bobcats, part of seven kills she had on .462 hitting in the fourth set. Webb also had six kills on .417 hitting in the fourth.
 
Setter Ally Wada was at her best in the fourth set, as she recorded 16 assists and seven digs while leading the Vikings to .350 hitting – their best mark of any set in the match. Wada finished with 40 assists and 21 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, and 20th of her Portland State career.
 
Wada's 21 digs meant she joined a rare club of Vikings to out-dig junior libero Ellie Snook in a match. Snook still recorded 19 digs of her own, while adding eight assists.
 
The Vikings also went into double figures for blocks for the second straight match. Portland State recorded 10 against the Bobcats Saturday, two days after the Vikings had 12 in five sets against Montana. Ashleigh Barto, who had seven blocks in Thursday's match against the Grizzlies, led the Vikings again with six blocks. Webb followed with five blocks of her own, while Florig and Lewis added four and three blocks, respectively.
 
The Vikings flew home to Portland after beating the Bobcats early in the day Saturday, but will hit the road again for a match at Sacramento State Tuesday at 7 p.m. That will mark the Vikings' second-to-last road match of the regular season, as the Vikings finish the season with six of their final seven matches at home.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 45-24-1 all-time against Montana State with Saturday's win…The Vikings hadn't beaten Montana State on the road since Sept. 28, 2017…Wada's 20 career double-doubles rank her 10th in the career rankings, which only date back to 2005 in the category…The Bobcats came into the match ranked 54th nationally in blocks, but the Vikings negated that advantage as the Bobcats only out-blocked the Vikings by one, 11.0-to-10.0...There were 18 ties and seven lead changes in the first set alone.