EUGENE, Ore. — Portland State head volleyball coach Michael Seemann said he wanted to foster a love for the game and love for competition within his team this season. Saturday's exhibition match against No. 9-ranked Oregon was his first opportunity to see that in action.
 
And the early reviews? Two thumbs up.
 
Despite a 4-0 final score line in favor of the Ducks, the Vikings had chances in every set, equating themselves well against an Oregon program that is coming off an NCAA Elite Eight appearance last season. No set got out of hand – 25-16 was the biggest margin of victory in a set for the Ducks – and the Vikings even had early leads in the first and fourth sets.
 
"Our goal coming in was to stay looking forward and not dwell on the past, especially when we had unforced errors. And I thought we did a really good job of that. We worked hard all the way to the end, through the fourth set, which I'm really proud of," Seemann said of his impressions of the match.
 
"We have a lot of new people, and for this to be the first collegiate match for some of them, I'm very pleased with what we did."
 
All 13 players who were dressed – the team sat three players for precautionary reasons – showed the love for competition Seemann has hoped for. Balls that appeared destined for kills were dug up, while the Vikings battled back from some five- to seven-point deficits within sets.
 
What's more, there was no noticeable drop off in effort or energy as the Vikings rotated in new players or new pairings as the match wore on.
 
"I thought we approached each point with equal value. And even when we were down six or seven points, we did a good job of just slowly coming back," Seemann said.
 
"Our depth was a real positive for us. I think what we're doing in our gym is carrying over into competition. This was the first time we actually had a team that's not us on the other side of the net, so overall I liked the way we competed."
 
One player that drew particular praise from Seemann was freshman libero Paige Stepaniuk. Without fellow libero Kate Hansen dressed, Stepaniuk stepped up in her first match against collegiate competition, albeit a non-counting one. Official stats weren't shared after the match, but Stepaniuk got to a lot of balls that appeared bound for the floor.
 
The freshman even earned the respect of the partisan Oregon crowd, which clapped at various points for Stepaniuk and the other Vikings after an impressive dig.
 
"You've got a freshman in a big moment – it's an exhibition, sure, but playing in this gym in front of a sizable crowd – and I thought she did really well and responded well," Seemann said of Stepaniuk. "Paige did a really good job of getting comfortable and doing her job really well."
 
Stepaniuk even got a kill early in the match, as she redirected a low ball over the net that the Ducks thought was going out but landed on the line. That gave the Vikings an early 6-1 lead in the first set, catching the highly ranked Ducks a bit by surprise.
 
Oregon answered with a big run to close out the first set, 25-16, then took a sizable early lead in the second set. But the Vikings didn't wilt. At 15-7 in the second, Seemann took a timeout and his team responded. The Vikings split the final 20 points of the set, with Oregon maintaining its lead to win 25-17.
 
It was a back-and-forth set early in the third before a 3-0 UO run stretched the Ducks' lead to 15-10. Again, the Vikings would respond, raising their level after the lead had stretched to seven. A 3-0 PSU run got the Vikings back within four at 19-15 before the Ducks answered to close out the set, 25-20.
 
An early 4-1 lead saw the Vikings control the start of the bonus fourth set before the Ducks asserted themselves again. The Ducks closed out the match with a 25-18 fourth-set victory.
 
"[Oregon] taught us a lot about our serving strength, which is something I would like to see improve throughout next week. Because when we did strike the ball well and got them off the net and slowed them down, we did a good job of transition and going from there," Seemann said of the match.
 
"I also thought, I mean that's a really good serving team [Oregon], and I thought overall we were pretty balanced in serve receive. Towards the end, we may have given up a few zeroes, but I think we went three sets without one zero and had overall decent passing."
 
The Vikings now have a final week of preparation before the counting season starts this coming Friday, Aug. 25. The Vikings open their 2023 season at home, as they host Kansas State, Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State for the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown at Viking Pavilion. The Vikings will open the tournament against Kansas State Friday at 7 p.m.