PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State volleyball team went toe-to-toe with the top team in the Big Sky Conference in Northern Arizona Saturday. The Vikings and Lumberjacks split a pair of 26-24 sets in the middle two frames, but a dominant Lumberjack block proved too much, leading NAU to a 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 26-24, 25-18) over the Vikings at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Viking offense peaked over the second and third sets. The Vikings (11-13, 7-6) recorded 18 kills on .226 hitting in the second set, then posted 20 kills on .254 hitting in the third. Sophomore Reese Biesemeyer was untouchable over both frames. A late sub in the first set, Biesemeyer made an immediate impact, recording 10 combined kills on .588 hitting over the second and third sets.
 
Biesemeyer had four kills in an 8-1 run that gave the Vikings an 18-14 lead in the third set. That gave the Vikings a peek at a 2-1 lead in the match, but the Lumberjacks (20-6, 10-3) responded with seven of eight points later in the set that gave them the momentum for good.
 
Two NAU blocks came in the 7-1 run for the Lumberjacks. That was a persistent theme of the match as NAU out-blocked the Vikings 13.0-to-3.0. All three PSU blocks came in the second set, too, meaning NAU out-blocked the Vikings 11.0-to-0.0 outside of the second.
 
"The telling stat on this sheet is the blocking distinction," Portland State head volleyball coach Michael Seemann said when looking at the box score after the match.
 
"But the result tonight wasn't because we gave up. I thought the effort was there the entire night. It was the execution. My message to them was that our offense felt like it was just in survival mode. Not tactical."
 
The Viking offense still pushed through to out-kill the Lumberjacks 62-to-56, thanks in large part to Tyra Schaub, who put together one of the best matches of her career on her Senior Night. Schaub recorded 19 kills on .209 hitting – one kill of her career high – while setting a career high with 20 digs against the Lumberjacks.
 
Schaub had at least five kills in the first three sets of the match, including six without an error in the third set.
 
"She had an incredible night. She came to play. She wanted this. She put it all out there," Seemann said of Schaub. "She got us out of a lot of binds, and kept us in a lot of those sets, too. Because we were in survival mode a lot and she would just manufacture kills. So, I couldn't be more proud of her and what she did on her Senior Night."
 
Freshman Alivia Eikenberg added 17 kills and 16 digs for her 15th double-double of the season. Eikenberg now needs only one more double-double to tie the freshman record of 16 that Melissa Osterloh set in 2004.
 
Biesemeyer set a career high with 12 kills on .500 hitting thanks to her hot second and third sets.
 
The Viking defense, while missing potency at the net, scrapped its way to a season-high 97 digs against the Lumberjacks. The 97 digs were the Vikings' most in a match since they recorded 105 against Idaho State on Oct. 12, 2019.
 
A number of Vikings responded with career highs. Besides Schaub's 20 digs, Allison Panter set a career high with 14 digs. Panter added 16 assists for her first double-double of the season and third of her career. Naomi White also set a career high with eight digs to go with eight kills out of the middle.
 
Libero Paige Stepaniuk didn't set a career high but nearly finished with a double-double with 26 digs and nine assists.
 
"We were unwilling to let that ball die, easily. That kept us in a lot of these sets," Seemann said of the defense.
 
"But we couldn't produce swings in transition. We'd get the up, but then we'd either give them a free ball or a half-attack. That's what I thought they did better."
 
Despite the loss Saturday, the Vikings had already clinched a spot in the Big Sky tournament earlier in the day when Idaho State beat Idaho. The Vikings will now finish the regular season on the road, starting with a match at Sacramento State next Friday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. It'll be the Vikings' third straight match against one of the top three teams in the Big Sky Conference, following Thursday's win over Northern Colorado and Saturday's loss to Northern Arizona.
 
A win over the Hornets would put the Vikings back in the top four in the standings with those other three.
 
"We have to be ready to take some risks," Seemann said of the trip to Sacramento State. "Like I told the team, we can take a lot from this match [against NAU]. I think that team taught us a lot about ourselves. So, we'll take this and move forward."
 
Match Notes:

• The Vikings fell to 26-34 all-time against the Lumberjacks with Saturday's loss.
• The Vikings honored Schaub and Sydney Stenson for their Senior Night before the match.
• Schaub's 19 kills and 20 digs gave the senior her seventh double-double of the season and second in a row.
• The Vikings dropped the opening set Saturday, leaving them 3-12 in matches where they lost the first set compared to 8-1 when they won the opener.
• The middle two sets both being decided by 26-24 scores mean the Vikings are 15-15 in sets decided by two points this season, as well as 7-8 in sets that go into extra points.

Read Full Article