PORTLAND -- The University of Portland women’s volleyball team bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to win game three, but Oregon State proved to be too powerful as the Beavers downed the Pilots, 15-11, 15-1, 9-15, 15-2, in front of 154 fans at the Chiles Center on Tuesday night.

Portland fell to 5-13 overall on the season while Oregon State improved to 14-6 overall.

The Pilots were led by junior middle blocker Kristen Edwards, who notched a season-best 12 kills to go with four blocks on the night. Freshman setter Sara Engstrom narrowly missed her first career triple-double with nine kills, 31 assists, and nine digs while also hitting .300 on the night. Junior outside hitter Bridget Beschen had a match-high 14 digs.

The Beavers had three players in double-digit kills led by Gina Schmidt, who tallied a match-high 16 kills on the night to go with 13 digs and hit .371. Michele Solomon notched 11 kills and hit .409 on the night while teammate Joscelyn Hannaford had 10 kills and 12 digs.

Portland held the advantage at the net outblocking Oregon State, 10-2, but the Pilots were outhit, .277 to .150, and outdug, 66-49.

After dropping the first two games of the match, Portland roared out to leads of 6-1 and 9-6 before OSU fought back to tie the game on kills by Hannaford and K.C. Frederic.

A kill by Portland’s Heather Denison gave the ball back to the Pilots and junior Bridget DeChant, who served to consecutive aces to regain the lead. After an attack error by Oregon State, Portland got kills from Engstrom and Denison to force game point.

The two teams would trade sideouts before the Pilots clinched the game on an attack error by the Beavers to cut the match lead to 2-1.

Portland came out gunning in game four on an ace by Engstrom, but it was all Oregon State after that. The Beavers held the Pilots to -.222 in the deciding game as Portland committed nine of its 21 attack errors in the fourth game.

The Pilots next head north for two road matches this week. Portland faces Eastern Washington on Friday (Oct. 20) and resumes conference play with a match against arch rival Gonzaga on Saturday (Oct. 21). Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the respective sites.

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