EL PASO, Texas — The first of three matches against teams that won 20 matches last season went the way of the Vikings' opponents Friday morning, as the Portland State volleyball team dropped its opening match at the Borderland Invitational to South Dakota, 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 26-24, 25-11).
 
The Coyotes (3-1) were always going to be a test for the Vikings (1-3) as they made their third trip to the NCAA tournament out of the past four seasons last year, when they went 20-10 overall and won the Summit League tournament. Still, the Vikings appeared up for the challenge early in the match, as they used a big finish to the second set to level it at a set apiece.
 
The Coyotes were a set and 14-8 up in the second set when the Vikings found their groove. The Vikings won 17 of the final 22 points in the set behind an offense that went from hitting .051 with only nine kills in the first set to hitting .500 with 17 kills in the second. Ten of the Vikings' 17 kills in the set came in the concluding run. Makayla Lewis had four kills after the 14-8 mark in the set, while Jasmine Powell added three. Powell had two back-to-back that gave the Vikings a 21-18 lead late and helped spark a 7-1 finish to the set for the Vikings.
 
In addition to the improved offense, the Vikings also had three aces from three different players during their extended 17-5 finish to the second set.
 
Serving was a strength throughout the match for the Vikings, as the team finished with a season-high nine aces. Parker Webb continued her tough serving at the start of the season, recording three aces to increase her total to nine just four matches into the season. Sophia Meyers added two aces of her own, while four other Vikings had one each.
 
The Vikings added another three aces in the third set, but the Coyotes regained their footing as the set went back and forth. The longest run in the entire set was a 4-0 spurt by the Vikings, which gave them a 13-10 lead early in the third. South Dakota came back and tied it with a 3-0 run a little later that made it 16-all, and neither team led by more than a point until the end of the set.
 
South Dakota eventually edged ahead thanks to an offense that produced 22 kills on the Coyotes' 26 points in the set. The Vikings hit .306 with 14 kills themselves, but back-to-back kills from South Dakota's Avery Beckett and Brynn Paumen closed out a 26-24 victory for the Coyotes in the third.
 
South Dakota used the momentum of pulling out a close win in the third set to shut the door on the Vikings in the fourth. The Coyotes' offense continued to hum as they hit .522 with 15 kills in the fourth. The Vikings' level dropped, meanwhile, as they recorded only five kills on .053 hitting, leading to an easy 25-11 set victory for South Dakota.
 
South Dakota's Elizabeth Juhnke – a three-time AVCA All-North Region selection – led all players in both kills (24) and digs (16) while hitting .365 in the match.
 
Lewis led the Vikings with 15 kills on .250 hitting to go with 11 digs and three blocks. It's the second double-double of the season for Lewis, and the 21st of her career.
 
Meyers nearly added another double-double for the Vikings with nine kills and 10 digs. Powell finished with seven kills on .250 hitting, while Webb and Ashleigh Barto followed her with six and five kills, respectively.
 
Barto led the Vikings at the net with five blocks, while Ellie Snook led the back row with 15 digs in the match.
 
The Vikings face another 20-win team this evening, as they square off with host UTEP at 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT. The Miners return all seven starters off last year's team that went 24-8 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).
 
It'll be another tough match for the Vikings, but one they knew about and wanted when they signed up for the Borderland Invitational.
 
Match Notes: This was the first-ever meeting between the Vikings and the Coyotes…South Dakota became the second team to hit over .300 against the Vikings this season, as the Coyotes outhit Portland State .336-to-.230…By playing in all four sets, Webb tied Leigh-Ann Haataja for second on the all-time list during the program's Division I era. She needs to play in only 32 more sets to pass Garyn Schlatter for the all-time record.