OGDEN, Utah — The Portland State volleyball team's first postseason run since 2010 came to an end in the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship Saturday, as Weber State topped the Vikings, 3-1 (16-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-23), on the Wildcats' home floor.
 
The Vikings (20-11) dominated the opening set, winning 25-16 while recording 15 kills on .400 hitting, but the Wildcats (22-9) raised their level from there. Weber State hit over .300 in every set after the first while sweeping the Vikings over the second, third and fourth sets.
 
The loss knocks the Vikings out of the NIVC, though not before the program recorded its first-ever win in a national postseason tournament. The Vikings beat Pacific (Calif.) in the first round Friday, coming back after dropping the opening set to win in five. That win saw the Vikings reach 20 wins in the season, adding to a list of accomplishments that included:

• First postseason berth since 2010
• Most wins since 2017 (20)
• First Big Sky semifinal appearance since 2017
• Best Big Sky record since 2013 (12-4)
• Best Big Sky road record since 2011 (6-2)
• Best start to Big Sky play since 2012 (7-1)
• Longest winning streak since 2013 (seven matches from Sept. 25 to Oct. 16)

 
"This team grew immensely as the season progressed. I'm proud of us, proud of who we are and what we accomplished," Portland State head volleyball coach Michael Seemann said afterwards.
 
The Vikings very nearly pushed Saturday's match to a fifth set, too. The Vikings trailed by as many as five points early in the set, but came back to tie it at 14-all with a 6-2 run. Parker Webb started the run with a kill, while Zoe McBride, Ashleigh Barto and Makayla Lewis all followed with kills of their own. Weber State inched back ahead at 18-16, but another 3-0 run saw the Vikings take their first lead of the set at 19-18. Webb again started it with a kill, while Ellie Snook aced the Wildcats on the third point of the run to give the Vikings the lead.
 
But the Wildcats won six of the next eight points to earn three match points at 24-21. Lewis erased the first two match points with kills, but the Wildcats converted on their third to close out the match.
 
Barto, Lewis and Webb all had four kills in the fourth set, while McBride added two. Lewis also had five kills in the first set, when the Vikings rolled to the early advantage.
 
Gabby Hollins led the Vikings in the first set, as she finished with six kills on .455 hitting in the frame. Hollins had three kills as part of a 10-4 span that saw the Vikings stretch an 8-6 lead into an 18-10 advantage. Hollins also had kills on two of the Vikings' final three points in the set.
 
The Wildcats won the serving game, however, which had been a key element of all of the previous matches between the Vikings and Wildcats. The Vikings out-aced the Wildcats 11-9 when they won at Viking Pavilion on Oct. 30. The Wildcats out-aced the Vikings 11-5 Saturday, however, which led the Wildcats to a .311-to-.217 advantage in hitting. Additionally, the Vikings had 17 aces in Friday's match – one off the single-match record – so the Wildcats holding the Vikings to five probably felt like a win for Weber State.
 
The Vikings still got 16 kills out of Lewis, who came within one dig of her 15th double-double of the season as she totaled nine Saturday. Webb was one kill away from a double-double herself, as she finished with nine kills and 10 digs in the match. Barto had nine kills on .471 hitting, while fellow middle blocker Sydney Rabe finished with six kills on .750 hitting. Hollins also had eight kills, six of which came in the opening set.
 
Setter Ally Wada finished with 44 assists and 11 digs to record her 17th double-double of the season. Wada's 17 double-doubles rank her tied for second on the single-season list since the start of the 25-point scoring format in 2008.
 
Ellie Snook also added two aces to her single-season record total, as she finished the season with an even 50 aces, four more than Kaeli Patton's old record of 46 from 2012. Snook also set the record for aces per set in a single season, as she finished the season with 0.42 aces per set.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Wildcats, 39-22, despite Saturday's loss…Webb finished the season with 1,128 kills in her career, 11 shy of matching Hannah Long (1996-98) for third in the Division I history of the program…Snook finished the season with 1,599 digs in her career, four shy of Sarah Sirianni (2003-06) for second in the Division I history of the program.