PORTLAND, Ore. — Six-point leads in the first and second sets weren't enough to fend off a red-hot Northern Colorado team Saturday at Viking Pavilion, as the Vikings had their seven-match winning streak snapped with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-22) loss to the Bears.
 
The Vikings remain first in the Big Sky standings at 9-2 in conference play, but their margin for error is now zero. The Bears take over second place on their own at 8-3 in Big Sky play, and they now have the tiebreaker over the Vikings as they also swept Portland State in Greeley on Sept. 29 earlier this season.
 
The Bears were resilient in erasing the Vikings' leads in the first and second sets. The Vikings led 15-9 midway through the first set before the Bears won 13 of 16 points to go up 22-18. The Vikings also led 9-2 and 16-10 in the second set, only to have the Bears come back and win a tight set, 25-23.
 
The Vikings tried mounting their own comeback in the third set. The Bears led 22-15 late before a 5-1 Viking run made things interesting. The Vikings fought off two match points after the Bears went up 24-20, but they couldn't complete the comeback as the Bears closed out the sweep.
 
"We have to be able to perform when we are uncomfortable. Good teams will apply pressure, we must continue to figure out different ways to win points," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said afterwards.
 
Despite the loss, the Vikings held the Bears below their averages offensively. The Bears came into the match leading the Big Sky in hitting percentage (.269), kills (14.4) and assists per set (13.5) within conference play. The Vikings held the Bears to only 35 kills on .211 hitting Saturday, including a third set in which the Bears recorded only eight kills on .147 hitting.
 
But the Bears countered with a stronger match defensively and from the service line. The Bears out-aced the Vikings 8-to-4 and out-blocked them 11.0-to-8.0 while holding the Vikings to their lowest hitting percentage (.150) of any Big Sky match this season. The Vikings actually out-killed the Bears 42-to-35, but those 42 kills came alongside 23 attack errors.
 
A bright spot for the Vikings came in the form of their play at the net. Ashleigh Barto tied a season high with seven blocks, four of which came in the first set alone. Barto also added seven kills on only nine swings, as she hit a team-high .778 in the match. Parker Webb tied her own season high with four blocks, while the Vikings' 8.0 blocks as a team tied their highest total within Big Sky play.
 
Webb added 11 kills to her four blocks while hitting .269 in the match. Sophia Meyers led the Vikings with 12 kills to go with 10 digs, recording her fourth straight double-double and her 11th of the season. Setter Madison Friebel also finished with a double-double of 35 assists and 16 digs, with her 16 digs marking a new season high.
 
Makayla Lewis also went into double figures for digs with 13 to go with eight kills. Libero Ellie Snook gave the Vikings a fourth player in double figures with 12 digs, and also had back-to-back aces during the Vikings' 6-1 start to the second set.
 
The Vikings now hit the road for a tough road trip to the Montana schools. The Vikings open the weekend at Montana on Thursday before playing at Montana State Saturday. Both matches start at 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT.
 
And with the Vikings' margin for error now at zero, both are must-wins for the Vikings in their hunt for the Big Sky regular-season title.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings and Bears are now tied at 21-21 in the all-time series between the two teams…The Bears are the only team to outhit the Vikings in their past 15 matches, as well as the only team to hit over .200 against the Vikings during that stretch…Today's match was the third straight Saturday that the Vikings faced a team either alone in second or tied for second in the Big Sky standings. The Vikings won the first two, beating Weber State on the road on Oct. 15, and Sacramento State at home last Saturday.