PHOENIX, ARIZ. — The Bulldogs lost the final match of the GCU in four sets (17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 21-25) to Portland St. on Sunday afternoon. Abby led the team with 13 kills while Jersey Loyer collected a match-high 18 digs.

Portland St. 25-17
The Bulldogs fell behind early after the Vikings used an early 7-0 to take a 8-2 lead. Back-to-back serving aces by Grace Boggess helped the team back in the set bringing the score to 10-6. However, Portland St. would then go on consecutive 3-0 spurts to run away with the first set 25-17. 

Portland St. 25-20
The Vikings began the second set on top once again after two 4-0 runs gave them a 10-5 lead. Kills from Abby Maesch and Sawyer Jones brought the score back within the one point at 10-9. The Bulldogs would continue to put on the pressure taking their first lead of the match at 13-12 after a serving ace by Jersey Loyer. A 3-0 run followed by a 4-0 spurt by the Vikings would then  give them a 20-15 lead they would hold onto for the rest of the set.

Butler 25-23
For the first time in the match, the Bulldogs began the set on top using kills from Elise Ward and Destiny Cherry to run out to a 4-2 lead. Butler would maintain this lead with Alaleh Tolliver's serving ace giving the Bulldogs a 19-14 lead. Portland St. would make the set interesting coming all the way back to tie the set at 23-23. Boggess then took over the set and tallied back-to-back blocks to force a fourth set.

Portland St. 25-21
The Vikings regained the momentum in Set 4 after taking a 3-0 lead. Lauren Evans helped the Bulldogs back into the match with a serving ace to tie the set at 6-6. Kills by Maesch then gave Butler a 13-10 lead until the Vikings fought right back to regain the lead at 14-13.The two teams would then remain deadlocked until Portland St. would score three straight points late in the set at 24-20 and eventually edge out the Bulldogs 25-21.

Stat of the Match: The young pups on defense have shown flashes of success after three freshmen each reached double-digit digs in the match. Jersey Loyer led the match with 18 digs while Alaleh Tolliver (11) and Lauren Evans (10) followed just behind.

Inside the Box Score

• Cora Taylor collected 32 digs, seven digs and three serving aces
• Loyer led the match with 18 digs and a pair of assists
• Maesch tied for a match-high 13 kills with a pair of digs
• Ward had 11 kills and four digs
• Tolliver recorded 11 digs and an assist
• Evans earned 10 digs with two assists

Up Next
The Bulldogs will have a chance to get back on track as they get set to host the Butler Invitational from Sep. 19-21 with the first match slated against Ball State at 7 PM.