Portland State University Athletics

POCATELLO, Idaho — The Portland State volleyball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead on conference co-leader Idaho State Saturday but then couldn't hold off a comeback from the Bengals as they won 3-2 (22-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-13, 15-8) Saturday at Reed Gym.
 
It was the first reverse sweep the Vikings (5-10, 1-3) have suffered since Sept. 6, 2019, when they lost a road match at Utah Valley.
 
That's not to take away from the Vikings' performance in the first two sets against the Bengals (12-4, 4-0). Idaho State had swept their first three conference opponents, including the defending Big Sky regular-season champions in Northern Arizona this past Thursday.
 
The Vikings became the first conference team to take a set off the Bengals, then, behind an early attack that emphasized the middle and right-side hitters. Middle blockers Brenna Coffman and Reese Biesemeyer both led the Vikings with four kills in the opening set. Together with right-side hitter Katarina Kosica, they accounted for 11 of the Vikings' first 13 kills. The last of those put the Vikings up 20-19 as part of a 5-0 run that gave them command of the set late.
 
The Viking offense stayed hot in the second set, recording 20 kills on .311 hitting in the frame. The strong numbers came amid better balance offensively. Alivia Eikenberg got hot late in the first set and carried that into the second with a team-high five kills in the frame. Fellow left-side Maryn Hall added four kills herself, including two on back-to-back PSU points – the second of which gave the Vikings a late 23-20 lead.
 
Coffman and Kosic, meanwhile, stayed hot from the middle and right, respectively, with four kills each.
 
Coffman recorded two more kills out of the Vikings' first three points in the third set, putting her in double figures with 10 kills for the first time in her career. But Idaho State adjusted its defense from then on. They started blocking the right side of the net more, only allowing one more kill from Coffman over the rest of the match.
 
Without production from that side of the net, the Vikings struggled offensively. After averaging 18 kills per set over the first two sets, the Vikings had eight kills or fewer in the final three frames.
 
The Bengals out-blocked the Vikings 15.0-to-4.0 in the match while outhitting them .257-to-.141. They outhit the Vikings .309-to-.022 over the final three sets.
 
Coffman still led the Vikings with 11 kills on .238 hitting. Eikenberg added 10 kills and 12 digs for her first double-double since the opening weekend of the season.
 
Biesemeyer finished with nine kills on .273 hitting to go with a team-high three blocks from the other middle blocker position. Kosic and Hall finished with nine and eight kills, respectively.
 
Jessica Truong led the Vikings' back row with 23 digs. That's one more than the career high she set Thursday with 22 digs against Weber State. She has recorded 20+ digs in three of the Vikings' last four matches.
 
The Vikings return home next week when they'll host Montana and Montana State on Oct. 8 and 10, respectively. Both matches start at 7 p.m.
 
MATCH NOTES:

• The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Vikings 42-30 despite Saturday's loss.
• Head coach Michael Seemann remains two wins away from 300 in his head coaching career.
• Saturday's five-set match was the first for the Vikings since they played two over the opening weekend of the season. The Vikings are now 1-2 in five-set matches this season.
• The Vikings have won the first sets in their last two matches after also taking the opener against Weber State last Thursday. But the Vikings lost both matches.

  Read Full Article