EL PASO, Texas — The directive from Portland State head volleyball coach Michael Seemann has been clear all season.
 
Compete.
 
Not only compete when things are going well, but when they aren't.
 
Friday night at the Borderland Invitational, the Vikings did just that, stopping an attempted reverse sweep from host UTEP to beat the Miners, 3-2 (25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 15-11), on their home floor.
 
The Miners erased a 15-9 deficit in the third set to force a fourth set, then won 10 of the final 12 points in the fourth set to force a fifth. The Vikings came out firing in the fifth set, however, turning the momentum around behind an offense that recorded 13 kills on the team's 15 points in the set while hitting .348 after being in the negative in the fourth.
 
"We had to grind and figure out different ways to win. This is a huge win against a very good team on their home court," Seemann said of the win afterwards.
 
UTEP came into the season with all seven starters back from a 2021 team that went 24-8 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC). What's more, the Miners went 8-2 in their home gym last season, including a win over Weber State – the Vikings' Big Sky-rival – in the NIVC quarterfinals.
 
To fight off a comeback when the momentum was entirely on the Miners' side, then, shows the Vikings can meet Seemann's demand to compete.
 
The turnaround offensively in the fifth set was perhaps the most impressive element from the Vikings. UTEP held Portland State to under .100 hitting in the third set, and then forced them to negative-.028 hitting in the fourth. UTEP's block – dormant through the first two sets – came alive for 11 blocks combined in the third and fourth sets.
 
But the fifth set was a different story as the Vikings got kills from six different players, while Makayla Lewis, Sophia Meyers and Parker Webb all had at least three kills in the set.
 
Three straight kills from Webb, Lewis and setter Madison Friebel opened the fifth set. Another kill from Jasmine Powell a few points from there gave the Vikings a 6-2 lead, sparking a UTEP timeout. Later, back-to-back kills from Meyers and Lewis made it 10-6, while another pair from Ashlyn Blotzer and Webb answered a mini, 2-0 UTEP run to keep the Vikings up four at 12-8.
 
Ellie Snook aced the Miners on the next point to put the Vikings up five at 13-8, but the Miners fought back with three straight points to get within two at 13-11 and force a PSU timeout. Lewis snapped the Miners' run with a kill out of the timeout, then closed the door on the next opportunity as the Vikings' converted their first match point.
 
It wasn't as stressful of a match for Viking fans earlier in the night, as the Vikings were humming in the first two sets. Defense led the way at the start, as the Vikings held UTEP to .086 hitting combined in the first two sets while recording six blocks to only two for the Miners.
 
Offensively, the Vikings hit .271 combined in the first two sets with eight and seven kills, respectively, for Lewis and Meyers. Lewis led the way in the first set with six kills on .364 hitting, while Meyers drove the offense in the second set with five kills on .375 hitting.
 
Lewis led all players with 20 kills across the entire match, the second time this season Lewis has had a match with 20+ kills. Lewis' 20 kills came on .286 hitting to go with eight digs and a career-high five blocks.
 
Meyers tied her career high with 18 kills while adding 17 digs for her first 15-15 match as a Viking. Meyers also had three aces in the match while hitting .255 and adding two blocks.
 
Webb finished with seven kills in the match, three of which came in the fifth set. Ashleigh Barto also had seven kills while leading the Vikings at the net behind a new season high of six blocks.
 
Snook had her best match of the season to date, as she set season highs in three different categories between digs (25), assists (6) and aces (3). Snook's play helped the Viking defense hold the Miners to .138 hitting overall in the match, while the Vikings out-dug the Miners, 68-to-59.
 
Friebel and Teniyah Leuluai combined for 46 assists, with Friebel chipping in 28 to go with six digs, while Leuluai had 18 assists and seven digs.
 
Friday night's win for the Vikings over the Miners followed a 3-1 loss to South Dakota earlier in the day at the Borderland Invitational.
 
All teams at the Borderland Invitational won at least 20 matches last season, including the Vikings and their opponent Saturday, New Mexico. Like the Vikings, New Mexico has split its two matches so far at the tournament, beating UTEP in five sets Thursday night, before losing to South Dakota in five sets earlier in the day Friday.
 
First serve between the Vikings and Lobos is set for 11:30 a.m. PT / 12:30 pm. MT.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 4-2 all time against UTEP with Friday night's win…The Vikings avenged a loss to the Miners in Portland last season, as the Miners beat the Vikings 3-1 at the PDX Classic on Sept. 11, 2021…Webb passed Hannah Long (1996-98) for second in career points during the program's Division I era, as she upped her career total to 1,404 points during the match…Snook tied Kaeli Patton (2010-13) and Kasimira Clark (2011-14) for eighth all time in aces with her three against the Miners...Portland State players and coaches all wore black for the match in a show of support for the AVCA's Black Out Racism initiative.