LONG BEACH, Calif. — Facing a storied program on the road, the Portland State volleyball team had some important moments go against them late in sets Saturday, as the Vikings fell to Long Beach State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-22), at Walter Pyramid.
 
The Vikings (1-4) led late in the first and third sets, but the Beach (3-3) used its home-court advantage to nip the Vikings at the end of both sets. The Beach won eight of the final 10 points of the first set to steal the early lead from the Vikings, and then nearly matched that run exactly while winning seven of the final nine points in the third to close out the match.
 
The Beach used a big advantage at the net to edge the Vikings late Saturday. The Beach out-blocked the Vikings 11-to-3 in the match, which led to a .228-to-.089 advantage in hitting percentage.
 
The Vikings served tougher than they did Friday against No. 18 UCLA, finishing with five aces between two each for Ellie Snook and Ally Wada, and one for Gabby Hollins. The Vikings also benefited from 12 service errors from the Beach, though they committed nine errors themselves.
 
Four of the Vikings' first six points in the first set came on Long Beach State service errors, which helped the Vikings overcome an early deficit. Wada followed LBSU's fourth service error with an ace, while Parker Webb and Ashleigh Barto followed with back-to-back kills to level the set at 9-all. Those two combined for a block a few points later, while Webb gave the Vikings their first lead since 1-0 with another kill that made it 12-11.
 
An extended, 7-3 run a little later from the Vikings broke open a tied set, and gave the Vikings a 21-17 lead. Hollins went for two kills in the stretch, while Genevieve Florig recorded a block with Wada and a kill of her own.
 
That's when the Beach went on their late run, however, and they held the momentum throughout the second set to go up 2-0.
 
The Vikings responded early in the third set, winning the first three points behind back-to-back kills from Hollins and Webb, followed by an ace from Hollins. Wada gave the Vikings another three-point lead later in the set behind a kill and ace back-to-back that made it 16-13.
 
The Vikings were the first team to 20 points in the set after nn LBSU ball handling error made it 20-18. The LBSU attack recorded kills on five of the Beach's last seven points, while the Vikings only scored on a pair of LBSU service errors.
 
Webb finished only two kills away from her second double-double of the season, finishing with eight kills on .217 hitting to go with 10 digs. Hollins matched Webb with a team-high eight kills to go with six digs, while Zoe McBride added five kills and eight digs.
 
Wada recorded 24 assists to go with her two aces, while also adding four kills and five digs. Snook totaled a team-high 14 digs to go with her two aces, and added two assists as well.
 
The Vikings return home for the first of two straight home tournaments next weekend. The PDX Classic runs from Sept. 9-11 at Viking Pavilion, with the Vikings opening the tournament with a match against cross-town rival University of Portland this coming Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 2-4 all-time against Long Beach State after Saturday's loss…Webb was named to the Long Beach State All-Tournament team after Saturday's match.