POCATELLO, Idaho — Fans of the Portland State volleyball team have learned not to worry when the Vikings drop the opening set of a match. The Vikings lost their opener again Saturday at Idaho State, but then won the next three sets straight to beat the Bengals, 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-17), at the Bengals' Reed Gym.
 
Four of the Vikings' seven wins this season have now come when they dropped the opening set. That total includes the Vikings' first 0-2 comeback since 2016, as the Vikings (7-6, 1-1 Big Sky) reverse swept North Dakota State on Sept. 18. Besides that and tonight's match, the Vikings also came back to beat Santa Clara (3-1 on Aug. 28) and Grand Canyon (3-2 on Sept. 10) after dropping the opening set.
 
"We are having slow starts," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said, acknowledging the part a coach would focus on. "It took us a while to find the right rhythm on both sides of the ball. But we believe we can beat good teams on the road, and we never gave up in any area of the game tonight. This was about executing, not about effort. This team wants to be great and we believe we can be."
 
Besides the team comeback, a number of Vikings also shook off poor first sets to play well individually and help key the Vikings' comeback. Parker Webb and Zoe McBride were two of those players. Webb – last week's Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week – was held to only two kills while committing two errors in the opening frame Saturday. However, the Viking senior bounced back with 11 kills in the final three sets to finish with 13 for the match while adding eight digs and three blocks. McBride, meanwhile, played sparingly in the second set after a tough opening frame, but then bounced back with three key blocks – including two solo blocks – in the third set. McBride channeled that into six kills and five blocks in the fourth set, as she led the Vikings in closing out the match.
 
"We are deep, and we have the ability to depend on our bench. With that being said, we are always encouraging players coming off to be prepared to come back in and produce," Seemann said of seeing his players bounce back after tough opening sets.
 
Jasmine Powell, Maddy Reeb and Teniyah Leuluai all gave the Vikings some valuable playing time off the bench. Powell came off the bench to tie for a team high with four kills in the second set, including two back-to-back that broke a 21-all tie and kickstarted a 4-0 Viking run to close out the set.
 
Lewis proved to be the steadiest player on the outside for the Vikings Saturday, as she sustained her level throughout the match. Lewis finished with 17 kills and 14 digs against the Bengals to record her fourth straight double-double and fifth of the season. Lewis had 10 kills and nine digs by the end of the second set, including six kills and eight digs in the opening frame of the match.
 
"Makayla puts her foot on the gas and goes," Seemann said of Lewis. She's become a spark for us, and continues to handle the ball really well."
 
Lewis and Webb had two kills each in the early part of a crucial run in the third set that gave the Vikings control of the match. The Vikings scored 14 of 16 points in the middle of the set that turned a 9-7 Idaho State lead into a 21-11 advantage for PSU. The Vikings scored the last nine points in a row, with McBride recording two solo blocks and a kill in the latter stages of the run.
 
An early 6-0 run also gave the Vikings the lead for good in the fourth set, as the third kill of the set from Genevieve Florig gave them an 11-6 lead. The Bengals didn't get closer than four points the rest of the way.
 
A step up in defensive pressure helped spark the Vikings' turnaround Saturday. The Bengals (5-9, 1-1 Big Sky) hit .302 with 15 kills in the first set, but finished the match hitting just .143 while the Vikings out-killed them 61-to-43. The Vikings held the Bengals to .038 and .029 hitting in the second and third sets, respectively, as the Vikings recorded eight of their 10 blocks in the middle two sets of the match.
 
Libero Ellie Snook played well throughout Saturday's match, finishing with 28 digs to go with seven assists. Snook already had 20 digs after the opening two sets of the match, and now has at least 25 digs in the Vikings' last four matches. Snook had 25 digs in the Vikings' match against Weber State Thursday, giving her an average of 6.63 digs per set for the weekend.
 
The Vikings remain on the road next weekend, as they head to Idaho and Eastern Washington for matches on back-to-back days. The Vikings open the weekend at Idaho Thursday, before facing the Eagles Friday.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 37-26 all-time against the Bengals after Saturday's win…The Vikings hadn't beaten the Bengals in Pocatello since Nov. 11, 2017, before Saturday...The Bengals were coming off a five-set win over Sacramento State Thursday in which they erased an 0-2 deficit to reverse sweep the Hornets.