PORTLAND, Ore. — The Park Blocks-side of Viking Pavilion was designed to look like the side of a Viking ship, and for the second straight night, that ship rocked in a way that Portland State fans haven't seen since before the pandemic. A day after dominating the latter half of a 3-1 win over cross-town rival University of Portland, the Vikings handed Grand Canyon its first loss of the season while beating the Lopes, 3-2 (22-25, 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 15-10), on the second day of the Vikings' home tournament, the PDX Classic.
Through Thursday, the Lopes (7-1) had been one of only 22 teams in the nation with six wins or more without a loss. The Lopes pushed that up to seven wins Friday morning while handing UTEP – another 6-0 team entering the PDX Classic – its first loss of the season.
The Vikings (3-4) didn't blink at the Lopes' perfect record, however, as they went toe-to-toe with Grand Canyon in what proved to be a high-quality match from both teams.
"I couldn't be more happy, couldn't be more proud of them. Even yesterday, every set they played, I felt like they got more and more confident. And then tonight was no different, which speaks to the whole team, for sure," head coach
Michael Seemann said of his team afterwards.
"Grand Canyon is a very good team, and the level of volleyball was high throughout the match. We spent a good amount of time off the net and out of system, but our pin hitters bailed us out a lot, and they just got more confident every swing they took, which was really good to see."
Makayla Lewis and
Parker Webb led the way for the Vikings offensively, just as they did Thursday night against the Pilots. Lewis and Webb finished with 25 and 22 kills, respectively, while both players hit above .300, with Lewis at .302 and Webb at .383. Lewis and Webb became the first Viking teammates to finish with 20+ kills in the same match since Pati Anae and Eva Linden each had 21 kills against Montana State on Oct. 24, 2015.
It was a continuation of Lewis and Webb's performances from Thursday, when they finished with 19 and 14 kills, respectively, while hitting .333 and .371 against the Pilots.
"Second night in row, they've had both a lot of kill production but also a high hitting percentage, too. Parker has become a rock for us, but Makayla just lit it up. She went unconscious," Seemann said of Lewis and Webb.
Lewis and Webb both went into double figures for digs, as well, as Lewis added 12 digs to her 25 kills, while Webb added 14 to her 22 kills.
Gabby Hollins and
Ally Wada posted two more double-doubles for the Vikings, giving the the team four players with double-doubles in the same match for just the second time since 2010. Hollins totaled 16 kills on .220 hitting to go with 15 digs to finish with her sixth-career double-double and first of the season. Wada, meanwhile, recorded a career-high 62 assists to go with 13 digs, giving her a second straight double-double after she also had 31 assists and 11 digs against Portland Thursday.
Lewis, Webb and Hollins all had four kills in the fifth set, when the Vikings recorded kills on 14 of their 15 points in the set. Webb recorded three kills in a four-point stretch late in the set that gave the Vikings an 11-9 lead. Hollins followed with three kills of her own over the next four points, the last of which gave the Vikings match point at 14-10. Lewis then finished the job, hammering down a kill from the back row.
Wada assisted on 11 of the Vikings' 14 kills, as she led the Viking offense to .619 hitting in the fifth set, when they committed only one error on 21 attempts.
"When I got in that huddle before the fifth set, everybody's eyes made it clear that we were determined to win that fifth set," Seemann said. What I really liked about it was, we had a handful of unforced errors in that fifth set, but they never rattled us. It felt like we stayed on track and kept our foot on the gas."
The third set featured similar efficiency from the Vikings, as they took a 2-1 lead in the match after dropping the opening set. The Vikings hit .467 in the frame, with Lewis and Webb combining for 17 of the team's 19 kills in the set. Lewis finished with 10 kills on .643 hitting in the third set alone, while Webb recorded seven kills on .600 hitting.
The Viking defense was at its best set in the second set, when they held the Lopes to only nine kills on .081 hitting. Junior libero
Ellie Snook – last year's Big Sky Libero of the Year – had eight of her match-high 30 digs in the second set, while she helped the Viking defense post 95 digs in the match.
Additionally, three of the Vikings' eight blocks Thursday came in the second set, with graduate transfer
Genevieve Florig recording a solo block and two block assists in the frame. Florig led the Vikings with five blocks in the match, and now has 16 blocks in the Vikings' last four matches, when she's averaged 1.07 blocks per set.
The Vikings will have to put Friday's win behind them quickly, as they turn right around to host UTEP Saturday at 10 a.m. The Miners bounced back from their loss to the Lopes Friday morning with a 3-0 sweep of Portland in the afternoon. Grand Canyon, meanwhile, will face the University of Portland at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in what will be the final match of the PDX Classic.
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 5-0 all-time against Grand Canyon with Friday's win…Wada's 62 assists made her the first Viking to record 60+ assists in a match since Kylie Copple had 65 against Colorado on Aug. 26, 2016…The Vikings out-aced the Lopes 8-to-2, with Snook, Webb and Hollins all finishing with two each…The Vikings outhit the Lopes .242-to-.205 Thursday.
