GREELEY, Colo. ? Four Northern Colorado players reached double-digits in kills and the Bears handed Portland State its first defeat in Big Sky Conference play with a 3-1 win on Saturday night.

Set scores were 25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20.

The Vikings hit just .144 for the match, their lowest since a loss at No. 9 Washington back on Sept. 5, and could never quite take a lead despite the score being close late in the three sets that they lost.

Despite the loss, PSU (12-4, 5-1 Big Sky) still maintains a one-half game lead over Northern Colorado (10-3, 4-1 Big Sky) for first place in the conference standings.

PSU trailed by one, 22-21, late in the opening set before seeing the Bears close out on a 3-0 run for the win, and then had the second set tied at 21-21 before watching NC once again pull away for the win.

The Vikings broke away from an early 2-2 tie in the third set to take a 22-14 lead on their way to the 25-21 win. PSU hit .200 in the set, and got four kills from Christie Hamilton and three more from Tracy Vargas and Marija Vojnovic.

Just like the first two sets, PSU couldn't managed to put away the Bears in set four. The Vikings held a 14-11 lead midway through, yet NC answered with a 9-4 run to go up, 20-18. The Viks later closed within one at 21-20 on a Bears service error, but Northern Colorado scored the final four points to take the set and the match.

Vojnovic tallied her sixth double-double of the season for PSU, notching 10 kills and 13 digs, while Vargas registered 10 kills and hit had a match-high .389 hitting percentage. Jalen Pendon-Thomas led the Vikings with 21 digs.

NC had four players with 10 or more kills, led by Allison Raguse's 14. Ashley Lichtenberg added 13, and Kenzie Shreeve and Taylor Smith both finished with 12. Breanna Vandermost dug a match-best 25 balls.

Portland State stays on the road for its next match, facing Eastern Washington on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7:00 p.m.

MATCH NOTES: Northern Colorado had been 0-4 against PSU since joining the Big Sky in 2006 ... the Vikings still maintain a 10-3 lead in the all-time series ... Hamilton had nine kills, and Lindsey Steele had eight kills and eight digs ... NC had more attack errors than PSU, 32-25, but still had a higher hitting percentage (.178) ... there were 24 tie scores and 14 lead changes in the match ... Pendon-Thomas tallied 54 digs on the Viks two-match road trip this week, for a 6.75 digs per set average.