MOSCOW, Idaho — Missing freshman standout Alivia Eikenberg, the Portland State volleyball team couldn't muster enough in her absence, dropping a 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-22) match to Idaho Wednesday at Memorial Gym.
 
Without Eikenberg, the Vandals (6-21, 3-12) beat the Vikings (11-15, 7-8) for the first time in their last eight tries.
 
The Vandals – playing with nothing to lose after being eliminated from Big Sky tournament contention last week – outhit the Vikings .274-to-.142 Wednesday. The .274 hitting percentage marked a season high for the Vandals, as well as their best mark in Big Sky play by more than 50 percentage points.
 
The Vikings, meanwhile, have hit under .200 in three straight matches, all losses.
 
The Vikings led early, going up 9-7 in the first set. Naomi White started hot for the Vikings, recording five kills on the Vikings' first 11 points in the match. Those five kills came on .625 hitting, as the Vikings went to her early and often. But the Vandals started covering White, holding her to just three kills the rest of the way.
 
The Vandals' offense picked up from there, recording 15 kills on .417 hitting in the opening set.
 
The Vikings appeared to punch back at the start of the second. Tyra Schaub recorded back-to-back aces – two of three she had in the match – to give the Vikings an 11-4 lead in the frame. But the Vandals won 15 of 18 points shortly after that to take command of the second set and never really looked back from there.
 
White's eight kills led the Vikings in the match. Ashley Repetti, Schaub and Sydney Stenson all had six kills in the match.
 
The Vikings' defense, which had played exceptionally well at Sacramento State last Friday, was absent Wednesday. The Vandals out-blocked (6.0-to-4.0) and out-dug the Vikings (51-to-41) in the match. The Vikings didn't have a block in the first set and only had one outside of the second set.
 
Paige Stepaniuk led the Vikings with 14 digs. Reese Biesemeyer led the Vikings at the net with three blocks.
 
Wednesday's loss means the Vikings are locked into being either the sixth or seventh seed at next week's Big Sky Tournament. They'll need to beat Eastern Washington Friday and have Weber State beat Montana State to earn the sixth seed.
 
Either way, the Vikings will hope to build some momentum for the tournament with a win over the Eagles when they face off at 11 a.m. Friday.
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