GREELEY, Colo. — The Portland State volleyball team never recovered momentum after a close first-set loss, falling in three sets to preseason Big Sky favorite Northern Colorado Thursday at Bank of Colorado Arena.
 
The Vikings (7-7, 2-1) saved seven set points and held two of their own in the first set, but the Bears (7-7, 1-2) finally closed out a 34-32 victory with a block at the net. The Bears then never allowed the Vikings in the following two sets, as they took early leads in both to close out the Vikings, 3-0 (34-32, 25-17, 25-21).
 
Long runs by the Bears hurt the Vikings in every set Thursday. The Vikings led 19-15 late in the first set before the Bears went on an 8-1 run to take a 23-20 advantage. Portland State did well to get back in the set from there, but the Bears eventually closed it out to take the early lead in the match. A 5-0 start to the second set followed by a 6-0 run a little later then gave the Bears a 12-4 advantage they wouldn't relinquish. The Bears led 9-3 early in the third set, as well, before going on to complete the sweep.
 
Serving played a big role in Thursday's outcome. The Vikings initially held the advantage from the end line. Four of the Vikings' first 15 points in the match were aces as Parker Webb and Sophia Meyers had two each through the first half of the opening frame. But the serving advantage shifted to the Bears from there. The Vikings only recorded two aces the rest of the way, while the Bears – even as they only finished with four aces of their own – frequently put the Vikings out of system with tough serving.
 
The serving advantage meant the Bears hit .341 against the Vikings, the second-highest mark by a Viking opponent this season. No team had hit better than .200 against the Vikings over the team's previous six matches, and yet the Bears became just the third team to hit over .300 against PSU Thursday. Meanwhile, the Vikings hit .205 for their lowest hitting percentage since they hit .179 in their match against Utah State on Sept. 9. That was also the last time a PSU opponent outhit the Vikings in a match.
 
The offense was rolling for the Vikings early, especially in terms of the team's distribution. Five different players had at least three kills for the Vikings in the first set, while three of those five were hitting .333 or better. Even with the loss, setter Madison Friebel – the reigning Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week – set a three-set season high with 41 assists while adding 12 digs for her third double-double of the season.
 
Webb and Meyers tied for the team lead with 10 kills each. Middle blockers Ashleigh Barto and Ashlyn Blotzer – key in the Vikings' reverse sweep over Eastern Washington last Saturday – had strong nights again, recording eight and six kills, respectively. Both Barto and Blotzer hit over .300 against the Bears, as Barto finished at .368 on her eight kills, while Blotzer hit .312.
 
But the Bears countered with their own balanced attack. Three of their players went into double figures for kills, while another three were in double figures for digs. Libero Ellie Snook led all players with 19 digs in the match, but the Bears out-dug the Vikings 60-to-47 as a team.
 
So, the Vikings go from 2-0 in Big Sky play for the first time since 2017 to 2-1. More importantly, the Vikings now know they'll need to be better Saturday, when they face Northern Arizona at 12 p.m. (PT), if they hope to return home 3-1.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings still lead their all-time series between them and the Bears, 21-20, despite Thursday's loss…The Vikings haven't beaten the Bears in Greely since 2013, as Thursday night's loss marked their fifth road loss in a row to UNC…Snook's 19 digs leave her 29 away from passing Kasimira Clark (2011-14) for the career record at Portland State.