PORTLAND, Ore. — A day after coming back to beat Santa Clara after losing the first set, the Portland State volleyball team couldn't summon the same secret sauce Sunday, as San Jose State closed out the Vikings in three sets at Viking Pavilion.
Early deficits hurt the Vikings in the first two sets. The Spartans (2-1) used an extended 10-3 run to take a 16-8 lead in the first set that gave them control of the frame. Tough serving then got the Vikings (1-2) off the balance at the start of the second set, as the Spartans won 14 of the first 15 points to go up 14-1.
"That was a very unique team to defend," Portland State head coach
Michael Seemann said of San Jose State afterwards. "A lot of the first set was just getting the timing down for their very unique offense, and a very powerful one. That team is built to at least take away some of your blocking rhythm.
"We knew that was kind of what we were facing. I thought we did a pretty good job of touching them up. Not getting a lot of stuff blocks, but getting a lot of good touches at the net. But we weren't able to convert those into good swings.
The Vikings showed their competitive mettle at the start of the third set, as they came out with good energy, both on the court and on the bench. Redshirt senior
Parker Webb took her game to another level in the set, as she recorded kills on the Vikings' first three points of the third. Webb's fifth kill of the frame made it 12-9 in favor of the Vikings, and a service ace a few points later put the Vikings up 17-13.
"When we started picking up some of those touches and turning them into swings, we found ourselves with some leads and some momentum changes, at least. I like the way we kind of fought our way back into some of those sets," Seemann said afterwards.
The Spartans responded from there, however, winning nine of the next 11 points to take a 22-19 lead. Webb erased two match points a little later in the set, but the Spartans converted on their third attempt to close out the match.
Despite dropping the set, Webb still finished with eight kills on .636 hitting to go with six digs in the third set alone. Overall, Webb led all players with 16 kills for the match, which she recorded on .481 hitting while adding 11 digs.
"We knew we had a good matchup with her. I'm not sure if we got the ball enough to her [
Laughs]," Seemann said of Webb.
Webb's strong play in the third opened up some of the court for
Genevieve Florig, who recorded three of her four kills in the set. Florig was one of three players to tie for second on the team behind Webb with four kills each. Besides Florg,
Makayla Lewis and
Gabby Hollins both recorded four kills for the Vikings.
The uniqueness of San Jose State's attack gave the Vikings fits throughout Sunday's match, however. The Spartans hit .289 or better in every set, and outhit them .307-to-.147 for the match.
The Spartans also won the serving battle with the Vikings, as they recorded 11 aces to four for the Vikings. San Jose State's Haylee Nelson recorded three aces in the first six points of the second set, while her team won the first 10 points in the set on Nelson's serve. Nelson finished with four aces in the match, while Mia Schafer and Latahevai Lousi added three and two aces, respectively.
Portland State setter
Ally Wada finished with 24 assists to go with five digs, while libero
Ellie Snook matched Webb for a team high with 11 digs.
The Vikings hit the road next weekend, as they travel to Long Beach State for a tournament that will see them face UCLA and host Long Beach State. The Vikings face the Bruins in a neutral-site match Friday, Sept. 3, while they'll face The Beach the next day, Saturday, Sept. 4. Both matches next weekend start at 5 p.m.
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 1-4 all-time against the Spartans following Sunday's loss…The teams hadn't played since 2010, which had been the teams' only meeting since 1999.
