FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Portland State volleyball team put a 26-24 first-set loss behind them to level its match against Northern Arizona at one set apiece Thursday at the Lumberjacks' Rolle Activity Center. But the Lumberjacks flipped a switch from there, winning the third and fourth sets with ease in a 3-1 (26-24, 20-25, 25-17, 25-13) victory over the Vikings.
 
The second-set victory for the Vikings (6-9, 2-2) meant they were the first team to take a set off the Lumberjacks (13-5, 3-2) in Flagstaff this season. The Lumberjacks came into Thursday night 4-0 at home, with all four wins coming via sweeps over the likes of UC San Diego, Texas Tech, Southern Utah and Idaho.
 
But the Lumberjacks responded well to the lost set, coming back to hit .346 and .429 in the third and fourth sets, respectively.
 
The Vikings earned a set point after a big comeback late in the first set. NAU led 20-13 when the Vikings rattled off nine points in a row on Tyra Schaub's serve. The Vikings then broke a 23-all tie with a kill from Schaub that had to be confirmed via a review. But the Lumberjacks erased the set point thanks to a PSU ball handling error, then took the next two points to claim the set, 26-24.
 
After not dropping a two-point set since Sept. 6, the Vikings have now lost two in their last two matches, as they also dropped the second set, 25-23, in a four-set loss to Sacramento State last Friday.
 
The Vikings took the loss in stride, however, as they responded well in the second set. Playing a 5-1 formation for the first time within Big Sky play, the Vikings leveled the match behind a defense that held NAU to .048 hitting in the frame. Ava Blascziek, playing as the lone setter in the 5-1, totaled seven assists and five digs while recording two kills on two attempts in the second set.
 
Defensively, Naomi White was part of two of the Vikings' three blocks in the set, as the Vikings out-blocked the Lumberjacks 3.0-to-1.0. That was in contrast to every other set Thursday. Discounting the second set, the Lumberjacks out-blocked the Vikings 10.0-to-2.0.
 
The Vikings' back row also had its best set of the match in the second. Paige Stepaniuk recorded six of her match-high 18 digs in the frame while the Vikings had 20 digs as a team.
 
The Vikings took control in the second set behind an 8-1 run that turned a 17-15 deficit into a 23-18 lead for the Vikings. Only two of the Vikings' eight points in the run came off of kills, as it was mostly the defense forcing NAU into errors that spurred the Vikings in front.
 
But NAU didn't make many errors over the final two sets, as they closed out the victory.
 
Freshman Alivia Eikenberg recorded a match-high 17 kills on .106 hitting to go with 10 digs. She now has eight double-doubles this season, tied for the second-most by a PSU freshman since 2010. She needs five more double-doubles over the remainder of the season to match Garyn Schlatter's freshman record of 13 from 2010. Eikenberg also recorded two of the Vikings' four aces in the match.
 
No other Viking went into double figures for kills. Schaub had eight kills and nine digs, but didn't play in the fourth set as the Vikings rotated their lineup.
 
White finished with six kills on .278 hitting. She was also part of four of the Vikings' five blocks in the match, with three of her four blocks being solo. White now needs only two more solo blocks to enter the career top 10 at Portland State during the program's Big Sky era (1996-present).
 
Blascziek recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 11 digs to go with a career-high 32 assists.
 
Thursday's match kicked off a difficult road trip for the Vikings, as they'll play at Northern Colorado in an early start Saturday at 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. MT. The Bears represent another strong home team, as they beat Sacramento State Thursday to improve to 4-1 this season in their home gym.
 
The Vikings will need to respond in a hostile environment, then. They get another chance Saturday, after missing one against the Lumberjacks.
 
Match Notes:

• The Vikings fell to 26-33 all-time against Northern Arizona with Thursday's loss.
• The Vikings are now 10-8 in two-point sets this season as well as 4-3 in extra-point sets after losing the second set, 26-24.
• Thursday's match marked the seventh time this season that the Vikings have won the second set after dropping the first set. But the Vikings are only 2-5 in those seven matches.
• The Vikings fell to 2-8 when losing the first set this season versus 4-1 when they win the first set.
• After averaging 2.31 blocks per set through non-conference play, the Vikings are averaging just 1.43 blocks per set since the start of the conference season.
• Freshman Ashley Repetti recorded the first kills, digs and ace of her career in what was only her second match appearance of the season.

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