Failure to execute

After opening a difficult road trip with a gritty defeat of Northern Arizona, the Vikings carried all the momentum headed into their matchup with Northern Colorado.

But for the first time since joining the Big Sky Conference in 2006, the Bears (10-3, 4-1 BSC) defeated Portland State 3-1 in Greeley, Colo. The defeat was the Vikings (12-4, 5-1 BSC) first of the conference season.

“We didn’t play well in either game last weekend,” said head coach Michael Seemann. “We were able to gut out a win against Northern Arizona but our failed execution really hurt us on Saturday.”

According to Seemann, the Vikings have managed to overcome the absence of junior middle blocker Erica Jepsen by receiving strong play from redshirted freshman Tracy Vargas and transfer Lana Zielke.

But during the time that Jepsen has been out, the team has failed to execute their game plan and has been forced into adapting to the other teams’ playing style.

“Our opponents have done exactly what we expected them to do, but we just made mistakes. Our swings didn’t dictate the game, our serving became predictable and when you’re on the road you can’t do those things,” Seemann said.

Northern Colorado used a balanced attack with double-digit kills from four players while junior outside hitter Marija Vojnovic and Vargas had 10 kills each.

Senior libero Jalen Pendon-Thomas continued her outstanding play with 21 digs.

“We didn’t play that poorly considering we were in all the right spots and knew what they were doing. Against Northern Colorado we just didn’t get the blocks that we needed to stay in the game,” Seemann said.

Seemann said that although the loss was frustrating, the Vikings are still in good shape as they head into the mid-point of Big Sky play.

“It’s a long season and it is tough to go on the road and win every game. They have played really well at home and they executed,” Seemann said. “We still have things to work on, so hopefully we can turn it into a positive for the rest of the season.”

Portland State sits at 5-1, one-half game ahead of Northern Colorado in the conference standings. The Vikings travel to Cheney, Wash., to take on Eastern Washington this Friday.