PORTLAND, Ore. — A point away from taking a 2-0 lead over a Power 5 Conference team in Kansas State, the Portland State volleyball team couldn't shut the door Friday, losing an extended second set and then the match, 3-1 (15-25, 28-26, 25-20, 25-16), at Viking Pavilion.
 
It was still either team's match midway through the third set, even as a 4-0 Kansas State run gave the Wildcats (1-0) the upper hand after it was 12-all. Makayla Lewis – the Vikings' two-time All-Big Sky first-teamer and the 2021 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year – snapped the run with a powerful kill, but she landed awkwardly as she came down and immediately grabbed for her left knee.
 
The injury served as a gut punch for the Vikings (0-1), who never recovered momentum and the Wildcats closed out the match in four sets.
 
"We put ourselves in position to win set two. I think we controlled that set and to their credit, they scrapped, and they stayed in those points. We still felt really good going into the third set, feeling like we could still expose things. But then, obviously, with Mak going down, everybody was pretty shaken for the rest of that set. I'm not sure we ever really came back. I mean, everybody was really just kind of in shell shock," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said afterwards.
 
The disappointment of the near miss in the second set and Lewis' injury soured what otherwise was a strong season opener for the Vikings. Through a set and a half, the Vikings looked every bit capable of taking down the Wildcats.
 
The first set completely belonged to the Vikings, as they out-killed the Wildcats 18-to-8 and outhit them .275-to-.094. The strong offensive showing came against a Kansas State team that returned both starting middle blockers off a team that ranked second in the Big 12 Conference and 29th in the nation with 2.59 blocks per set last season.
 
What's more, the Vikings were also perfect in serve receive in the opening frame, while Lewis and Sophia Meyers each had an ace in the set.
 
"We passed well, we served really well in that first set. I thought our attack choices were great," Seemann said of how his team started the match. "Given the circumstances, those first two sets are what I want to remember because I think that is what we're capable of. And this is just the beginning. I think there's a lot of growth still to have."
 
Meyers headlined the first set with seven kills on .312 hitting. She extended that to 10 kills with back-to-back-to-back attacks on the first three points of the second set. She'd hit double figures for digs in the second set, too, giving her a double-double before the match was even half over. She'd finish with a match-high 15 kills to go with a career-high 21 digs in the match.
 
It wasn't just Meyers early, though. Setters Ella Hartford and VaiLin Tagaloa, sharing time in the Vikings' 6-2 formation, distributed the ball to six different players for kills in the opening set. Four different Vikings had four or more kills by the end of the second set, with Meyers and Lewis leading the way at 13 and 10 kills, respectively, to that point of the match.
 
"We filled the gym with electricity, and we executed well. We got after it. We definitely learned a lot about our strengths tonight, for sure," Seemann said.
 
The first-set win carried over to the start of the second set for the Vikings. Behind Meyers' three straight kills, the Vikings opened the frame with a 5-0 lead. They stretched it to a six-point lead for the first time at 17-11, and still led by five when Lewis put down a kill to make it 20-15.
 
The Wildcats turned things around from there, however. A 7-2 run tied the set up at 22-all. The Vikings answered with two straight points, the second coming on the seventh kill of the second set for Lewis, giving them two set points at 24-22.
 
The Vikings nearly closed it out on the next point, as VaiLin Tagaloa's serve went sideways off the arms of a Kansas State player. The Wildcats were able to recover, though, and back-to-back kills from Shaylee Myers and Aniya Clinton erased both set points. A service error gave the Vikings a third chance, but the Wildcats erased that with another kill from Clinton.
 
The Vikings saved a set point of their own with a kill from Meyers, but then back-to-back kills from Kansas State's Aliyah Carter closed it out.
 
Kansas State took an early advantage in the third set before three straight points from Ashleigh Barto pushed the Vikings out in front at 10-9. Barto put down kills for the first two points, then blocked the Wildcats' Myers at the net for the third point to give the Vikings their first lead of the set.
 
The Wildcats answered with their own 3-0 run, however, and shortly after that came Lewis' injury that left the Vikings emotionally drained.
 
Lewis' injury will leave the Vikings needing to rely on their depth going forward. Gabby Hollins came on in the immediate aftermath of Lewis' injury and recorded four kills over the last set and a half. Delaney Nicoll also put down eight kills on .263 hitting in her first match as a Viking. Barto finished with nine kills on .400 hitting to go with two blocks in the middle.
 
Freshman libero Paige Stepaniuk also earned praise from Seemann after she finished with 19 digs and eight assists in what was the first match of her collegiate career. Additionally, Hartford finished with her first-career double-double with 27 assists and 12 digs, while Tagaloa added 17 assists and eight digs to go with two service aces.
 
"We have depth, and this is what it's for, unfortunately. Now people will have to move and shift roles and positions, but overall – considering you have a freshman libero who is in her first big, home match, and two setters who have never taken on that big of a role before – there are a lot of pluses that we can take out of this," Seemann said.
 
"I'm looking forward to the rest of the season with this team because I think we're a team that's built to win and I think we can do it. Tonight, Mak needs our love and I think tomorrow we need to reset and get after this."
 
The Vikings have a chance to come back and play for their teammate tomorrow when they face Cal State Fullerton on the second day of the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown. The Titans lost in four sets to San Diego State in the opening match of the tournament. First serve for the match between the Vikings and Titans will be at 5 p.m. Saturday.
 
Match Notes: Friday's match was the first-ever meeting between the Vikings and Wildcats…Meyers' double-double was the 13th of her Viking career and 18th of her collegiate career overall…The Wildcats out-blocked the Vikings 13.0-to-5.0, having recorded at least three blocks in every set.
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