PORTLAND, Ore. — Five years and 10 days. That's how long it had been since the Portland State volleyball team had erased an 0-2 deficit to win in five. But you can set that clock back to zero after Saturday night, as the Vikings completed a comeback win over North Dakota State to win, 3-2 (24-26, 20-25, 25-15, 25-14, 15-13), at Viking Pavilion.
The Vikings (5-5) have had a number of chances to complete an 0-2 comeback over the past five years, but they hadn't finished the job since coming back against Utah State on Sept. 8, 2016.
The Vikings clearly had the confidence needed to complete the comeback against the Bison (6-6), after sweeping them in the first match of the Les Schwab Rose City Showdown last night. Still, the Vikings found themselves committing a number of unforced errors in the first two sets, while the team's offense, which had been resurgent over their last four matches, looked out of sorts.
"I just thought that we came out flat. It's not like we didn't execute. I thought we were still right there, and we were in system a lot, but in my opinion, we didn't have that determination to finish plays. We didn't have the punch at the end," Portland State head coach
Michael Seemann said of the team's slow start Saturday.
"I just reminded them of that between sets two and three, and reminded them of what we did last night to get that sweep. And they responded. It's not like it was something they didn't know, but they realized that their backs were against the wall, down 0-2, and everybody just upped their game."
Seemann wouldn't get into specifics of his locker room talk – "I can't repeat that," Seemann joked – but it clearly struck a chord with the Vikings. After hitting just .192 in the first two sets, the Vikings hit above .300 in the third and fourth sets, while their defense stepped up at the net and in the back row. The Vikings held the Bison to a negative hitting percentage in the third set, and limited them to .105 hitting in the fourth set. Additionally, the Viks recorded 11 of their season-high 15 blocks in the final three sets, including four blocks in the decisive fifth set.
Three of the Vikings' four blocks in the fifth set came in their last five points, as the Vikings came up clutch while erasing a late deficit. The Bison took two-point leads at 9-7 and 11-9 in the fifth set, only to see the Vikings come back and tie it each time.
Parker Webb recorded the last of her match-high 23 kills to make it 11-10, while
Ashleigh Barto and
Ally Wada combined for a block that made it 11-all.
NDSU responded by going back up 12-11 and 13-12, but the Vikings answered both times.
Makayla Lewis placed a tip well enough to find the ground and make it 13-all, before back-to-back blocks from Wada and
Genevieve Florig gave the Vikings their last two points of the match.
"Even though we found ourselves a little bit down all the way up until 11-11 [in the fifth set], I felt like we did a really good job of staying confident. I felt a certain belief that we were still going to do it," Seemann said afterwards.
Florig tied a career high with 10 blocks in the match, seven of which came in the final three sets. Wada also set a new career high with six blocks, while Barto and Webb followed with four and three blocks, respectively.
Webb led the way offensively for the Vikings, especially in the third and fourth sets. Twelve of Webb's 23 kills came in those two sets, including seven on only 11 swings in the fourth set, when she hit .636 in the frame. Webb also set a new career high with 28.5 points in Saturday's match, as she added four aces and three blocks – as well as 15 digs – to her match-high 23 kills.
Webb continued her hot streak with her play Saturday, as she's now recorded at least 14 kills in the Vikings' last five matches, and has hit .360 or better in four of those five matches.
Webb's play has helped spur an offensive renaissance for the Vikings over their last five matches. It didn't look like that would continue at the beginning of Saturday's match, but the Vikings finished hitting .274 against the Bison – the fifth straight match in which they've topped .240. That's been in stark contrast to the Vikings' first five matches of the season, when they were hitting only .084 as a team.
Zoe McBride led the way in the early going, as she had 11 of her 13 kills in the first three sets while hitting .321 by that point of the match. McBride finished hitting .244 while adding 14 digs and two blocks to her 13 kills.
Lewis did most of her damage late in the match, as she recorded nine of her 14 kills in the final three sets. Lewis matched Webb with four kills in the fifth set, when she hit .500 while adding three digs. Lewis hit .250 for the match while adding 13 digs to her 14 kills to record her second double-double of the season.
Wada gave the Vikings a fourth double-double in Saturday's match, marking the second time this season the Vikings have had four players finish with double-doubles – something they had only done once since 2010 before this season. Wada recorded her double-double with 48 assists and 10 digs to go with a career-high six blocks.
Ellie Snook led all players with 25 digs while adding a season-high eight assists. Snook now has four matches with 20+ digs this season, and maintained her lead for digs per set within the Big Sky Conference at 5.03 d/s.
Saturday's comeback win gives the Vikings a chance to complete a home tournament sweep, something they fell just short of last weekend at the PDX Classic. The Vikings close out this weekend's tournament – the Les Schwab Rose City Showdown – with a final match against Gonzaga at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 10-4 all-time against the Bison with Saturday's win…Florig is the first Viking to record at least 10 blocks in a match since
Julia Haynie had 10 blocks against Eastern Washington on Nov. 2, 2019…The Vikings' 15 blocks Saturday marked their most as a team since the same match against Eastern Washington on Nov. 2, 2019.
