CHICAGO, Ill. — The Portland State volleyball team did something Wednesday no other team has done this season. They held a lead over an unbeaten DePaul team that won nine of 10 sets it played last weekend at the Drake Invitational.
 
The Vikings claimed an early 1-0 advantage on the Blue Demons with a 25-22 first-set victory. They held the Blue Demons to only .098 hitting in the opening set, forcing 10 attack errors against 14 kills.
 
But the lead was short-lived as the Blue Demons dominated the next two sets en route to a 3-1 victory (22-25, 25-9, 25-11, 25-18) over the Vikings at McGrath-Phillips Arena. The Blue Demons (4-0) hit .350 or better in the final three sets while holding the Vikings (1-2) to negative hitting percentages in the second and third sets.
 
"We never really found a rhythm offensively tonight. Our defense also needs to improve. Both in tactics and play-making abilities. We weren't without our opportunities to transition, but we couldn't produce quality swings," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said after the match.
 
The Vikings' greatest success, unsurprisingly, came in the first set. Willow Watson led the way in that frame, recording four kills on .500 hitting. Her last kill helped kickstart a 3-0 Vikings run that gave them a late lead at 19-17. The Blue Demons tied it again at 20-all, but the Vikings pushed ahead behind kills from Magdalena Ranitovic and Jordyn Romano – the latter making her first appearance of the season for the Vikings. Maryn Hall gave the Vikings set point at 24-22 with a kill a few moments later, while Ranitovic finished it with an ace.
 
After two tough sets in the second and third, the Vikings found a spark again offensively in the fourth. Ashley Repetti came off the bench for her first action of the season, recording five kills on .250 hitting in the set. Katie Brewer also saw her first action of the season in the set and produced three kills on .333 hitting out of the middle.
 
But the Vikings still struggled defensively, as the Blue Demons closed out the match behind their best offensive set, recording 15 kills on .378 hitting.
 
The Vikings played 17 of their 18 players in Wednesday's match. Watson led the Vikings with eight kills on .250 hitting. No other Viking had more than seven kills, however.
 
The long participation list for the Vikings may have been purposeful by Seemann. The Vikings have three more matches scheduled over their trip to the Chicago area, starting with two on Friday as the Vikings open the NIU Invitational against Lindenwood (12:30 p.m. PT start) and Northern Illinois (4:30 p.m. PT start).
 
MATCH NOTES:

• The Blue Demons now lead the all-time series between them and the Vikings, 2-1, after Wednesday's win.
• This week's trip to the Chicago area marks the Vikings' farthest trip East since 2004 when they played a tournament in Maine.
• Ranitovic finished Wednesday's match with two aces. She's recorded two aces in all three matches so far this season, as she's averaging 0.50 aces per set.