PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State volleyball team lived by the two-point set in a five-set win over Montana State Thursday. But Saturday, the Vikings died by the two-point set. A pair of two-point losses in the first two sets, both of which went past 25 points, came back to haunt the Vikings, as they fell in five sets to the Grizzlies at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings (7-11, 3-4) did well to force a fifth set. They won both the third and fourth sets, 25-19, while winning handedly in both frames. The Vikings out-hit the Grizzlies (12-6, 4-3) .278-to-.156 in the third, then .317-to-.083 in the fourth. 
 
But the Grizzlies found their footing again in the fifth set, going on an 8-1 run that turned a 6-5 deficit into a 13-7 lead. They closed it out from there.
 
"We had too many unforced errors in the opening two sets. We put ourselves in a position where our back was against the wall as a result," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said after the match.
 
"I thought [Montana] was a tremendous defensive team. They played really great defense tonight, to their credit, for sure. But you look at the sets we won, almost everybody held their serves at least once. We were serving tougher. We were just incomplete tonight."
 
The first two sets being decided by two points meant the Vikings had played six straight two-point sets going back to Thursday. The final four sets against Montana State were all decided by two points with Saturday's first two sets adding to that. The Vikings went just 2-4 in those six sets, however. Four of the six two-point sets went into extra points, and the Vikings were just 1-3 in those four sets.
 
A win in either of the first two sets Saturday would have changed things for the Vikings.
 
"In the 20s in the first two sets and also in the fifth set, we just lost our edge. We were too careful. Passive. And they smelled blood. They were ready to take risks, and we weren't," Seemann said.
 
The Vikings weren't tentative in the third and fourth sets as they pushed the Grizzlies to the brink of a reverse sweep. 
 
The Vikings broke open a tight third set with an 8-1 run midway through the set. Neither team had led by more than a point until the Vikings went on the run, turning a 16-15 deficit into a 23-17 lead. Naomi White, Alivia Eikenberg and Sydney Stenson started the run with kills. White added another kill later in the run, as well as a block with Stenson. Eikenberg capped the run with an ace.
 
The distribution in the third set led the Vikings to the set victory. Tyra Schaub led the way with five kills in the frame. Eikenberg and Stenson both had three kills of their own, while White added her two during the decisive run.
 
The Vikings had even better distribution in the fourth set, when White recorded four kills on five swings while Schaub, Eikenberg and Stenson all had three kills each. 
 
Again, a decisive 10-1 run in the middle of the set turned the frame in the Vikings' favor. The run was split between Stenson's and Paige Stepaniuk's serve. White had two of her four kills in the set during the run, while Schaub had two of her three.
 
Schaub, Eikenberg, White and Stenson all went into double figures for kills in the match, the first time the Vikings have had four players record 10+ kills this season. Schaub led the way with 19 kills on .246 hitting, putting her one kill off the career high she set in Thursday's win over Montana State. Eikenberg added 16 kills on .130 hitting.
 
White and Stenson were efficient from the middle and right side, respectively. White recorded 13 kills on .522 hitting, while Stenson finished with 12 kills on .458 hitting. 
 
Four Vikings also recorded double-doubles in Saturday's match. Schaub added 13 digs to her 19 kills, giving the Viking senior her second double-double of the weekend and fourth this season. Eikenberg recorded her seventh straight double-double, and 11th of the season, with 14 digs to go with her 16 kills. Setter Ava Blascziek recorded her fifth straight double-double with a career-high 47 assists to go with 13 digs.
 
The debutante to the double-double list was Stepaniuk, who recorded the first of her career with a career-high 10 assists to go with 13 digs.
 
But service errors hurt the Vikings at key moments Saturday. The Vikings set a season high with 17 errors from the service line. Three of those came after both teams reached the 20s in the first and second sets.
 
Montana's defense helped the Vikings to be tentative late in sets. The Grizzlies out-dug the Vikings 90-to-73, with the 90 digs marking a new season high for a Viking opponent.
 
The Vikings have the benefit of staying home next week to right the ship after Saturday's loss. They'll host Eastern Washington (Thursday, 7 p.m.) and Idaho (Saturday, 2 p.m.) at Viking Pavilion next weekend.
 
And if both teams enter the 20s in a set in either of those two matches, the Vikings know to stay on the front foot after Saturday.
 
Match Notes:

• The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Grizzlies, 58-22, despite Saturday's loss. Montana won its first match in Portland since 2015 Saturday.
• The Vikings are now 12-12 in two-point sets this season and 5-6 in extra-point sets after Saturday.
• With two solo blocks Saturday, White entered the career top 10 during the program's Big Sky era (1996-present). White now ranks 10th by herself with 40 career solo blocks as a Viking.
• Blascziek needs only 27 assists to reach 1,000 in her collegiate career. She has 366 assists since joining the Vikings after two years at Temple.

• The Vikings are now 2-5 in five-set matches this season.

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