SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In a battle between the two remaining undefeated teams in Big Sky play, it's only appropriate that fine margins ended up defining Friday's match between Portland State and Sacramento State. The shame from a Portland State perspective is that those fine margins went against the Vikings.
 
The first three sets were all decided by two points before the Hornets ran away with it in the fourth to beat the Vikings, 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 25-15).
 
A few points go differently here or there, and the Vikings win in three sets. Instead, the Hornets (10-7, 3-0) take sole possession of first place at 3-0 in the Big Sky standings two weeks into conference play.
 
"We had timely errors at the end of the first three sets," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said after the match. "We never got into an offensive rhythm yonight. Most critical was that we did not strike our serves the way we know how to for four sets."
 
The Hornets – the Big Sky's leading defense, holding opponents to .167 hitting this season behind 2.40 blocks per set – proved their defensive mettle in beating the Vikings Friday. The Hornets out-blocked the Vikings 18.0-to-6.0 while holding the Vikings to just .142 hitting. The 18 blocks were three more than any other opponent has recorded against the Vikings this season. Additionally, the Vikings' .142 hitting percentage was the Vikings' lowest mark since they hit a season-low .131 against Cal on Sept. 1.
 
Even still, the Vikings nearly eked out wins in the first two sets with late rallies.
 
The Vikings trailed 23-18 late in the first set when a 6-0 PSU run on Lauryn Anderson's serve got the Vikings to set point at 24-23. Anderson had two aces during the run, while Sophia Meyers and Delaney Nicoll added a kill each. The Hornets erased the set point with a kill from Caitlin Volkmann, however, then took the set behind back-to-back kills from Bridgette Smith.
 
The Hornets took an early lead in the second set, 13-6, but the Vikings again made a late comeback to nearly steal the frame. A 5-1 run got the Vikings back within two at 18-16, with Kendra Duffey providing a block and a kill during the burst. The Vikings then twice got back within one late, but three late service errors, including one with the Vikings serving down 23-22, stifled the comeback.
 
The Vikings finally completed a comeback in the third set, rallying from 21-19 down to win 25-23. Gabby Hollins had kills on two of the Vikings' last three points in the set, including one on the Vikings' second set point of the match.
 
All drama left the match, however, when an early 8-0 run for the Hornets put them up 15-2 at the start of the fourth. That deficit proved too much as the Hornets closed out the Vikings in four sets.
 
Despite the offensive struggles, Hollins posted a match-high 18 kills for the Vikings, while Meyers followed with 15 kills to go with eight digs and three aces. Anderson also had three aces for the Vikings, who finished with nine as a team.
 
Nicoll added seven kills for the Vikings, but the team struggled to incorporate anyone offensively outside of their pins. No one besides Hollins, Meyers and Nicoll had more than four kills in the match.
 
The Vikings continue on the road next week when they face Eastern Washington and Idaho. The Vikings open the week at Eastern Washington Thursday, which will be a rematch of last year's Big Sky quarterfinal match that the Vikings won in four sets.
 
Until then, the goal over the next week will be to ensure the fine margins go the Vikings' way next time.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 27-51 all time against the Hornets with Friday's loss…The Vikings are only 6-26 all time at The Nest, the Hornets' home facility, though they had won two of their last three road matches against the Hornets going into Friday…Friday's loss snaps the Vikings' five-match win streak that included back-to-back wins over Oregon State and a home win over defending Big Sky champion Northern Colorado.
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