PORTLAND, Ore. — A day after pushing the defending conference champions to five sets, the Portland State volleyball team couldn't muster the same challenge Tuesday, dropping a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-15) decision to Northern Colorado at Viking Pavilion.
 
"Yesterday was kind of the golden opportunity, to some degree, because you had a team coming off the road and getting familiar with the gym. Us being home, I thought we had an opportunity to knock them off. But they got more comfortable throughout that match yesterday and today they played better," head coach Michael Seemann said afterward.
 
"I don't know if we came out with the same focus and intent as we did last night, which was disappointing. And yet I still think that if you look at our hitting percentages, even with the poor passes that were there, it is a step forward to some degree. We're getting a lot more production from our middles, which is a huge step forward for us, but I think we have to get better at our first contact, for sure, and in serve receive especially."
 
The Vikings (1-7, 0-6 Big Sky) again hit well against the Bears (7-1, 7-1 Big Sky), following up their seasonal-best mark of .289 Monday by hitting .248 Tuesday. For context, the Bears came into the series leading the Big Sky with an opponent hitting percentage of .118, well below what the Vikings hit in both matches.
 
The Bears had success on their own side of the net, however, hitting above .300 in two of the three sets, including a .531 mark in the third set. The Bears' efficiency meant the Vikings struggled to extend many rallies, and the Bears would often immediately answer a 3-0 run for the Vikings with one of their own.
 
The Bears held a big advantage on the serve, as well, recording 10 aces to the Vikings' one. That was a factor in Monday's match, too, when the Bears recorded 13 aces on the Vikings over five sets.
 
The Vikings' best chance at winning a set came in the second when they limited the Bears to .225 hitting while forcing them into five attack errors. Three UNC attack errors came as part of a 4-1 run near the start of the set that gave the Vikings an early 7-4 lead. Freshman Ashleigh Barto recorded two blocks on the Bears' three attack errors, combining with setter Ally Wada on the first one before ending the mini-rally with a solo block.
 
Junior Megan Sester also had two early kills in the second set as the Vikings took an early lead.  Sester finished with seven kills in the frame, half of her final total of 14. Sester's 14 kills gave her the team lead for the second straight match, after she recorded 20 kills in the Vikings' five-setter against the Bears Monday. Sester has now recorded 10 or more kills in three straight matches, and is averaging 3.92 kills per set during that stretch.
 
Maddy Reeb and Julia Haynie also had four and three kills, respectively, in the second set. Haynie's three kills came as part of seven for the sophomore middle blocker, who also hit .400 a day after hitting above .500 Monday.
 
The Bears went on an extended 11-4 run in the middle of the second set that turned a 13-10 lead for the Vikings into a 21-17 advantage for the Bears. The Vikings answered with back-to-back kills from Julia Haynie and Sester, while senior Maddy Reeb followed with a service ace to get the Vikings back within one. Sester stepped up again after the Bears went back up 23-20, recording another kill and a solo block on back-to-back points to make it 23-22. The Bears' Taylor Muff responded with an immediate kill, however, while the team's fourth ace of the second set sealed it for the Bears.
 
The Bears took early leads in the other two sets – 9-3 in the first, 12-6 in the third – and then answered every Portland State run. A 4-0 run in the first set got the Vikings back within two at 15-13, but the Bears immediately responded with a 5-1 run to go back up 20-14. A similar thing happened in the third set, when the Vikings used a 4-1 run to get back within one after falling behind 6-2. The Bears took the next five points to push their lead out six, and then poured it on from there.
 
Overall, Sester's team-high 14 kills came on .419 hitting, setting a new season high for the junior newcomer from California Baptist. Haynie also hit .400 with her seven kills, while Parker Webb and Reeb followed with five and four kills, respectively.
 
Wada recorded 27 assists for the Vikings, and added seven digs. Wada had recorded six straight double-doubles in her first six matches as a Viking, but had that streak snapped Tuesday.
 
Sophomore Ellie Snook led all players with 15 digs in the match, nine of which came in the first set alone.
 
The Vikings hit the road for the next two weeks, as they head to Southern Utah and Montana State over the next two weekends. The Vikings play at Southern Utah, Feb. 21-22, with both matches starting at 5 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. MT.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 20-18 all-time against Northern Colorado…The Bears have won nine of their last 10 meetings with the Vikings, with seven of those nine wins coming in straight sets…Tuesday was the first time the Vikings had played a three-set match this season, as they had played six five-set matches in their first seven matches…Snook upped her career total to 786 digs this weekend, leaving her just 39 from matching Jalen Pendon-Thomas (2007-08) for 10th all-time at Portland State during the program's Division I era (1996-present).