PORTLAND, Ore. — A day after the Portland State volleyball team won its first match over Oregon State since 1990, the Vikings weren't able to produce a second landmark victory, falling in three sets to the 19th-ranked Oregon Ducks. The Ducks' 3-0 win over the Vikings (25-12, 25-12, 25-18) closed out the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown at Viking Pavilion.
The Vikings had history against them Sunday – the program is 0-30 now against AVCA top 25 teams during its Division I era – but they did so Saturday against the Beavers, too. Head coach
Michael Seemann has emphasized competition since the start of fall camp, and he scheduled Sunday's match for a reason so he could see how his team would hold up against a top 25 team like the Ducks.
And while the Vikings found pockets of strong play against the Ducks, Seemann knows his team can be more consistent the next time they face a tough opponent like Oregon.
"We have to be strong competitors when things aren't going well," Seemann said of the lessons his team could take from Sunday's match. "We're all very good at having contagious energy when we make plays. When we'd get a stuff-block or a great swing, everybody would come together stronger, louder, and it relieved people of whatever they were thinking about in terms of errors. But we can't rely on those moments only to be competitors. We have to be better when things are not going our way, when things are going badly. And that's a difficult thing to do."
The Ducks (2-0) stifled the Vikings (1-2) throughout Sunday's match. The Vikings hit negative-.047, while only sophomore
Sophia Meyers finished with more than three kills against the Ducks. The Ducks, meanwhile, could do no wrong in the opening two sets. They recorded 15 kills on .520 hitting in the first set, then followed with 16 kills on .542 hitting in the second.
"Good teams do that to you, but the duration that we allowed ourselves to stay in funks like that was not good. Our decision making was poor and then we got tentative," Seemann said after the match. "I thought we stayed super aggressive last night [during the Vikings' upset win over Oregon State], but things were going our way last night, so it was easier to do that. I think this was a bigger challenge for us because everybody was struggling, and we didn't remain competitive and therefore allow ourselves to execute."
The Vikings still had their moments. Down 9-2 early in the second set, the Vikings responded with a 6-2 stretch that got them back within three at 11-8. It was a strong stretch for freshman
Kendra Duffey, who kicked it off with a kill, then combined with
Ashlyn Blotzer for a block a little later. Meyers also had a kill and a solo block during the stretch, while Blotzer had a solo block of her own.
The Vikings found their way a bit against the Ducks in the third set, especially early as PSU went on a 6-0 run on
Parker Webb's serve to take an early 7-3 lead. Webb had two aces during the run, while Duffey had a solo block and
Makayla Lewis and
Ashleigh Barto each recorded a kill.
The Viking defense also found its way in the third set. After the Ducks hit over .500 in the first two sets, the Vikings limited them to .194 in the third thanks in part to three blocks, including two for Barto.
Still, the Vikings will want more than just pockets of strong play going forward.
"I think we can pull something from [today's match]," Seemann said. "We have a short week here, so we've got to get back to work, but moving to a neutral-site next week will be good for us. It lets it be about us and allows us to get a little bit closer on the road and get after some teams."
Next weekend features the Vikings' biggest trip of the non-conference schedule, as they head to the Borderland Invitational, hosted by UTEP. The Vikings open the tournament Friday, Sept. 2, at 9 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. MT against South Dakota.
Match Notes: The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Ducks, 27-23, despite Sunday's loss…The Ducks have won 18 of the past 19 matches dating back to 1988, however…The Ducks also held the Vikings to a negative hitting percentage in both teams' season opener last season on Aug. 27, 2021…The last time any opponent held the Vikings to a negative hitting percentage was last season's match against then-No. 18 UCLA on Sept. 3, 2021...The 635 fans in attendance Sunday set a new Viking Pavilion record for a volleyball match.
