Portland State and Montana State battled through four close sets Friday night in Bozeman, Mont. In the end, Montana State came away with the win.
Vikings The got off to a good start, taking a 10-8 lead early in the first game. Things began to go downhill when Montana State answered with an 11-4 run, bringing the score to 19-14. The teams then tied at 24, but Montana pulled out a close 30-27 win.
The two teams would go on to tie 17 more times in the second game. The Vikings rallied with a 6-2 run when the game was once again tied at 24, taking the game 30-26.
The Bobcats rebounded with victories in games three and four, relatively close matches with scores of 30-20 and 30-27, respectively.
Middle blocker Katie Kost played well for the Vikings, ending the game with 19 kills and a .567 hitting percentage.
The Vikings did not fare any better Saturday night in their match against the Montana Grizzlies.
In a similar pattern to the previous night, the Vikings lost the first game 30-15 but were able to pull out a 30-27 win in the second. Junior Richell Wilson led the team with 14 kills and 13 digs in the match, her fourth double double of the year. Sophomore Kathy Garbacz and Kost also played well offensively, combining for 25 digs. Five Vikings ended the game with double-digit dig totals, led by Stephanie Lavigne with 20.
The Grizzlies came away with 30-24 and 30-27 wins in games four and five. Lizzie Wertz played impressively for Montana with a double double, 22 kills and 20 digs.
These two losses give the Vikings a record of 0-2 in the Big Sky Conference, 5-4 overall.
Next up, the Vikings return home to the Stott Center on Friday, Oct. 4, with a game against Eastern Washington at 7 p.m.