FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — For the first time since 2011, the Portland State volleyball team won a match at Northern Arizona. The long-awaited win could be reward enough for the Vikings, but what it took to get there also counts as one of the more promising signs of the Vikings' young 2022 conference season.
 
Down a set after hitting negative in the first, the Vikings (8-7, 3-1 Big Sky) bounced back with 17 kills on .333 hitting in the second and then 15 kills on .222 hitting in the third. The Vikings then shook off a fourth-set loss to take a commanding 6-2 lead early in the fifth, and they rolled from there.
 
So, mental toughness saw the Vikings over the finish line Saturday in a 3-2 win (20-25, 25-16, 25-20, 21-25, 15-6) at Rolle Activity Center.
 
"We had the right mentality coming in, knowing it's a tough place to play," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said of the team's toughness. "We knew the recipe to earn points coming in, and for the most part we executed."
 
The Vikings are now 3-0 in five-set matches this season, with all three victories coming on the road. Besides Saturday, the Vikings also won in five sets at UTEP on Sept. 2, and beat Eastern Washington on Sept. 24 in what was the program's first reverse sweep in a Big Sky road match since 2010.
 
Saturday's five-set win came behind a resurgent Portland State defense. Two days after Northern Colorado hit .341 against them – the second-highest mark by a Viking opponent this season – the Vikings held Northern Arizona (1-10, 0-4 Big Sky) to .160. The Viking defense played its best when it mattered most, as Portland State only gave up one kill to NAU in the fifth set while holding the Lumberjacks to negative-.130 hitting in the final set.
 
"We were not proud of our defensive effort against UNC, so that was a point of emphasis for us today," Seemann said of the defense.
 
Libero Ellie Snook led the way with what turned out to be a career night for her. With a season-high 31 digs, Snook passed Kasimira Clark for the career record at Portland State. The record dig came with Parker Webb serving at 9-3 in the fifth set, and the fact that the Vikings won the point on a from Makayal Lewis made it all the sweeter. Lewis had a season-high 17 digs of her own Saturday, while the Vikings set a season high as a team with 82 digs. Webb and Sophia Meyers also went into double figures with 10 digs each.
 
"Super proud of Ellie and what she has accomplished during her career here. There's plenty more to go for her," Seemann said of Snook.
 
The defense helped fuel another balanced effort from the Viking offense. Six different players finished with at least seven kills for the Vikings, including setter Madison Friebel, who set a career high with seven kills of her own on .545 hitting. The career high for kills nearly gave Friebel a triple-double, as she also had 50 assists and eight digs against NAU Saturday.
 
Webb led the team's attackers with 18 kills, tying a season high, while her 10 digs in the match gave Webb her fourth double-double out of the Vikings' past five matches. Meyers followed with 13 kills for the Vikings, while her 10 digs gave her a team-leading seventh double-double on the season.
 
Ashleigh Barto went into double figures for just the second time this season with 10 kills on .214 hitting. Fellow middle blocker Ashlyn Blotzer added a season-high eight kills, including a screamer that gave the Vikings a 13-4 lead late in the fifth set. Lewis finished a kill away from giving the Vikings a third double-double as she added nine kills to her 17 digs.
 
The offense didn't really get going until the second set of the match. NAU held the Vikings to negative-.024 hitting in the first set, as the team had more errors (9) than kills (8). But that all changed in the second, as the Vikings rolled to 17 kills on .333 hitting. All seven players – including Snook at libero – recorded a kill for the Vikings in the set, while four different players tied for the team lead with three kills in the frame.
 
The Vikings outhit the Lumberjacks .222-to-.074 in the third set, too, with Meyers and Webb leading the offense with five and four kills, respectively, in the frame.
 
The Lumberjacks rebounded with a strong fourth set, but the Vikings then choked the life out of them in the fifth. The Vikings led 6-2 early behind two early kills each for Webb and Barto. A 7-1 run, capped by Blotzer's rocket from the middle, then gave the Vikings a commanding 13-4 lead. Meyers would get the Vikings to match point with a kill two points later, before an NAU service error ended it at 15-6 in the fifth set.
 
The Vikings now return home for two key matches against the Montana schools, both of whom are at or near the top of the conference in the early season. The Vikings open the weekend against Montana State Thursday at 7 p.m. at Viking Pavilion.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 23-31 all time against Northern Arizona with Saturday's win…The Vikings have won two straight in the series after losing 14 of the previous 16 matches between them and NAU…Snook now ranks seventh in career digs within Big Sky Conference history…The Vikings did not give up an ace to the Lumberjacks in the match, marking the second match this season in which they've been perfect on serve receive.