Portland State University Athletics

EUGENE, Ore. — The Portland State volleyball team looked every bit the equal of 23rd-ranked Oregon early in all three sets Thursday. But the nationally ranked Ducks separated themselves late in all three frames en route to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-20) sweep at Matthew Knight Arena.
 
The Vikings (4-6) led 17-13 in the first set before the Ducks (8-1) closed on a 12-2 run. Portland State led 20-19 in the second set but then saw the Ducks win six of the final seven points. It was a similar story in the third set as the Ducks won eight of the final 11 points after it was tied at 17-all.
 
While the late runs proved the difference, the Vikings can take pride in putting themselves in positions to win. They held an Oregon offense that came into the match ranked in the top 35 nationally for hitting percentage below their season average. Additionally, the Vikings were essentially even with the Ducks in aces (Oregon 6, PSU 4), digs (Oregon 42, PSU 40) and blocks (Oregon 7.0, PSU 5.0).
 
"We created a lot of opportunities on our end, but we didn't get a lot of finishes in kill production. They were better than us out of system tonight, and we got stuck in some troublesome rotations," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said after the match.
 
"Overall, I was proud of our effort as a team. We committed to playing each point with focus and rigor, and we accomplished that tonight."
 
Sophomore libero Jessica Truong led the Viking defense with a match-high 19 digs. That was just one dig off Truong's career high of 20, which came over four sets last week against Prairie View A&M.
 
Truong and the Vikings showed their focus early in the match. Ashley Repetti capped a five-point PSU run with an ace that made it 5-1 Vikings. Reese Biesemeyer added another ace – after Alivia Eikenberg's third kill in the early going – to make it 7-2 Portland State. The Vikings maintained the lead until the Ducks scored eight points in a row to turn a 17-13 deficit into a 21-17 lead. The Ducks recorded eight of their 14 kills in the first set after the start of their run, which closed it out for the home team.
 
The Vikings did a better job answering a spurt from the Ducks in the second set. They matched a 4-0 run for the Ducks that saw them take a 16-13 lead with four straight points of their own. Katarina Kosic and Brenna Coffman led the Vikings to the 4-0 run, recording back-to-back blocks together to go with a kill each. When Reese Biesemeyer added a solo block a few points later, the Vikings led 20-19 with a chance to level the match at a set apiece.
 
But the Ducks responded with four kills from Sjakkie Donkers down the stretch to go with two blocks to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Ducks led early in the third set, 9-3, but the Vikings didn't fade away. They instead scored five straight points on Alyssandra Ordona's serve to get back within one. Ordona recorded an ace to tie it up at 17-all later in the set. But the Ducks followed with four straight points to retake control and closed it out from there.
 
Eikenberg, after her hot start to the match, finished with seven kills to lead the Vikings. Kosic and Willow Watson added five kills each. Coffman and Repetti finished with four kills on .308 and .200 hitting, respectively.
 
Biesemeyer led the Vikings with three blocks to go with two kills on .333 hitting.
 
The Vikings will show their mettle against another major conference opponent Friday, when they play at Oregon State at 6 p.m. That match will close out non-conference play for the Vikings before they open their Big Sky Conference season next week at home.
 
"I believe we've learned that we are a good passing team, but we need to continue to get more kill production both in and out of system," Seemann said upon reflection of the team's non-conference schedule.
 
Get that kill production Friday, and perhaps the Vikings can close non-conference play with a win over an in-state power.
 
MATCH NOTES:

• The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Ducks, 27-26, despite Thursday's loss. The Ducks have now won 14 in a row over the Vikings and 20 of the last 21 going back to 1988.
• Truong is averaging 4.45 digs per set over her six starts at libero going back to the Vikings' match at NIU on Sept. 4.
• The Ducks became the first opponent out of the Vikings' last five matches to hit over .200. The Vikings had held their previous four opponents below the mark, including two matches – against Prairie View A&M and UTRGV – in which the Vikings held them below .100.

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