PORTLAND, Ore. — Exactly a week after the Portland State volleyball team missed out on a potential reverse sweep against Montana, the Vikings completed a comeback from 0-2 down to beat Idaho, 3-2 (14-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-10) Saturday at Viking Pavilion.
 
It was the first reverse sweep for the Vikings (9-11, 5-4) since Oct. 19, 2023, when they erased a match point earlier to beat Montana State in five sets.
 
The comeback came after a disjointed first two sets against the Vandals (4-17, 1-8). The Vikings were hitting in the negative for the majority of the first set. Idaho, meanwhile, sided out at 80 percent in the opening frame as the Vikings didn't have a run longer than two points until the second set.
 
But the Vikings responded with two strong offensive sets that leveled the match. A key 5-0 run then turned a tight, 9-8 lead in the fifth set into a 14-8 advantage that essentially put the match away for the Vikings.
 
"I couldn't even imagine a worse two sets [laughs]. I can't explain that," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said of the opening two sets of Saturday's match. "I felt like we were giving them multiple unforced errors, and then we felt desperate. It felt like we thought we had to get five points back on one swing or one swerve. And what we needed to do was just make them play more often. Instead of cranking and being aggressive, let's put it in play. Let's put some roll shots in there and make them play. And to some degree, it paid off. We earned some defensive points, got some blocks, and they hit out a few times. Once that steadied out, I think we got more confident."
 
It's a style of play that hasn't suited the Vikings in the past. The Vikings have had trouble against teams that extend rallies with a lot of digs, losing to Sacramento State at home on Oct. 3 and Montana at home on Oct. 18 in two similar matches. And through two sets, the Vandals were out-digging the Vikings 40-to-27, frustrating a Viking offense that only had 20 kills through the first two sets on .095 hitting.
 
But again, the Vikings turned the match in their favor. The offense recorded 17 kills on .326 hitting in the third set, then 16 kills on .244 hitting in the fourth. Meanwhile, the defense held the Vandals to .026 hitting in the fourth and .000 in the fifth. The Vikings out-dug the Vandals in both sets – after not doing so in any of the first three sets – including an 11-4 advantage in the fifth set.
 
"It's a huge growth point, for sure. Having really good, organized defense in those long rallies, which is what we needed," Seemann said.
 
"It shows that we're flexible and we're adaptable. And as we get closer to the end of the season, it's going to be something that we'll have to do."
 
Freshman Alivia Eikenberg – the hero with 28 kills in the Vikings' 3-1 win over Eastern Washington Thursday – mirrored the Vikings' comeback. She had a slow start, recording just one kill on negative-.250 hitting in the opening set. But she had seven kills in the third set, five of which came as the Vikings ran out to an early 12-7 lead. Eikenberg finished with 14 kills over the final three sets of the match while hitting .242 over that stretch.
 
Eikenberg's turnaround meant she finished with a match-high 17 kills to go with 13 digs, her ninth straight double-double and 13th of the season.
 
Besides Eikenberg, Tyra Schaub recorded seven of her 12 kills in the third and fourth sets while also finishing with nine digs and three aces in the match.
 
Middle blocker Naomi White went into double figures for kills for the fourth straight match – the longest such streak in her career – with 11 kills on .435 hitting. Seven of White's 11 kills came over the final three sets when she hit .500.
 
A late hero in the comeback came from another freshman in Brenna Coffman. Subbing in midway through the third set, Coffman recorded five of her six kills over the final two sets.
 
Coffman had the two most important kills in the fifth set for the Vikings. Setter Ava Blascziek went to her on a slide play after Idaho cut its deficit to one at 9-8, sparking a 5-0 PSU run that gave the Vikings six match points at 14-8. Coffman added a kill on match point a few moments later, completing the Vikings' comeback.
 
"She was clutch," Seemann said of Coffman. "She had some key blocks and some awkward swings in transition, but also effective. Coming in cold off the bench is really hard to do, especially as a middle, to get into the context of the game and who you're releasing on and so forth. So, the fact that she came in and made plays is awesome."
 
Blascziek, who played as the Vikings' lone setter after the opening set, recorded a career high with 51 assists to go with 10 digs. It's the seventh straight double-double for Blascziek, who reached 1,000 career assists in Thursday's win over Eastern Washington.
 
"We forget that it's really her first year," Seemann said of Blascziek, who didn't play that much in two years at Temple. "She's still learning and discovering what it means to be a front row setter. Not only from a blocking standpoint but offensively your choices are a little bit more limited. But to her credit, she's so determined. She's one of those kids in practice where she wants to be there, wants more reps always.
 
"She's the most competitive person we have on this team. So having her there for all six rotations is important for that reason, too. You want to get on her back. You want to get on her side because she wants to win. She exudes that."
 
Defensively, libero Paige Stepaniuk finished one dig shy of her career high with 29 digs. She helped the Vikings hold the Vandals to just .166 hitting overall in the match, well below where they started when they hit .308 in the opening set.
 
Additionally, the Vikings set a conference season high with 10.0 blocks in the match. White led the way with five blocks, while Sydney Stenson and Reese Biesemeyer added four blocks each.
 
Saturday's win completed a weekend sweep for the Vikings. It was something Seemann wanted ahead of a road-heavy finish to the season in which the Vikings will play five of their last seven matches away from home.
 
He got it in the end but may also want to get his heart checked after Saturday.
 
MATCH NOTES:

• The Vikings improved to 24-9 all-time against the Vandals with the victory Saturday. They've won their last seven meetings with the Vandals.
• The Vikings are 3-5 in five-set matches after Saturday. Idaho dropped to 1-6.
• The Vikings won after losing the first set for only the third time this season, and the first time in Big Sky play. The Vikings are 3-10 now this season when losing the first set.
• The Vikings are 5-0 within Big Sky play when holding their opponent below .200 hitting, and 0-4 when they don't.

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