Thursday, Oct. 3
Pilots (4-12, 0-1) vs. Loyola Marymount (9-7, 0-2)
Portland, Ore. – 7:00 p.m.
Series: LMU leads 37-8
Last season: 0-2, @POR 1, LMU 3 • @LMU 3, POR 0
Live stats/audio/video: portlandpilots.com
Saturday, Oct. 10
Pilots (4-12, 0-1) vs. Pepperdine (8-6, 1-1)
Portland, Ore. – 1:00 p.m.
Series: Pepperdine leads 42-2
Last season: 0-2, @POR 0, PEPP 3 • @PEPP 3, POR 2
Live stats/audio/video: portlandpilots.com
This Week in Pilots Volleyball...
The Portland Pilots are at home this week and will host two West Coast Conference matches at the Chiles Center starting with Loyola Marymount on Thursday Oct. 8 at 7:00 p.m. Portland then squares up against Pepperdine on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 1:00 p.m.
Game Day Coverage
All Portland home matches will once again be video streamed live at www.pilotsvideo.com. A season pass is available for $40 (13 matches), while single-game matches are $8. Free audio streams and live stats will continue to be available at www.portlandpilots.com.
Scouting Loyola Marymount
LMU opened WCC action suffering two losses at the hands of No. 20 San Diego (25-23, 16-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-9) and Saint Mary’s (25-21, 25-11, 32-30), extending their losing streak to four matches. Alaina Bergsma paces the attack with 4.23 kills per set, leading all freshman in the country. Bergsma also leads the team in blocks with 0.68 per set (38 total) and has a conference-leading 26 service aces. On defense, Laur DeGrandmont has 167 digs total (2.88 dps).
10 returning letterwinners and five starters are joined by seven newcomers this fall. Last season LMU went 13-17 overall and 3-11 in the WCC, good enough for sixth.
Steve Stratos enters his 19th year as head coach at LMU.
Pilots/Lions Series
Portland went 0-2 last season against LMU. The Lions own a 37-8 advantage in the all-time series with the Pilots. In their last meeting on Nov. 15, 2008, LMU beat the Pilots 3-1 at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.
Scouting Pepperdine
The Waves had a split to open conference play, falling to Saint Mary’s (25-14, 25-16, 25-22) before defeating San Diego (25-18, 25-23, 25-23). Senior Rachel Grochmal led the Waves, registering match-highs both times, with 11 kills against Saint Mary’s and 14 on .407 hitting against San Diego. Senior Kiah Fiers had 20 assists and a team-high 11 digs against SMC for a double-double alongside sophomore Stevi Robinson, who also had double-digit digs with 10. Robinson has had double-digit digs in all but one match this season and ranks second in the league with 227 digs on the season.
Last season, the Waves finished 20-8 (8-6, 4th WCC) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row but suffered a first-round loss to Long Beach State. Six letterwinners and four starters return this fall, as well as seven newcomers.
Head coach Nina Matthies is in her 27th season at the helm of the Pepperdine program.
Pilots/Waves Series
The Pilots went 0-2 last season against the Waves. Pepperdine has the 42-2 advantage over Portland in the all-time series. In their last meeting on Nov. 13, 2008, the Waves defeated the Pilots 3-0 in Portland, Ore.
Looking Back
On Wednesday, the Pilots wrapped-up preseason competition with a 3-1 win over Seattle University (25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 25-13) and 4-11 overall mark. On Saturday, UP opened West Coast Conference play by falling to Gonzaga 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 26-24).
Against Seattle, junior Jessica Clemens paced the Pilots with nine kills and nine digs, both good enough for the team high. Sophomore Marissa Plummer posted six kills and one block assist, while senior Shelley Sievers recorded five kills and two blocks total including a solo stuff. Freshman Ariel Usher registered six kills on 10 swings with no errors for .600 hitting efficiency to complement one block. Freshman Madison Smith had a team-high 17 assists.
Against the Bulldogs, junior Jessica Clemens recorded her sixth double-double of the season with a match-high 14 kills and 11 digs, while senior Maria Clemens posted 12 kills. In 14 of 15 matches this season, it has been a Clemens sister who has led the Pilots offensively. Marissa Plummer had 10 kills on a team-high .348 hitting percentage and also added three blocks and two digs. Leading the defense for the Pilots was junior Jessica Baty with a match-high 22 digs. Meanwhile Shelley Sievers put up eight blocks total in addition to eight kills. At the setter position, senior Kaylyn Jones and Madison Smith shared duty dishing out 23 and 22 assists, respectively.
Where UP Stands
Junior libero Danielle Dupar currently sits at fifth in the conference in the digs per set category with 4.22 (156 total), while junior libero Jessica Baty is eighth with 3.25 dps and 91 total. Also making top-10 in the conference in the dig category is junior outside hitter Jessica Clemens in 10th with 2.91 and 154 total.
Jessica Clemens’ six double-doubles ties her for first in the conference so far this season. She moved up to eighth in the kills per set category with 3.06 and third in kills total with 162.
Freshman outside hitter Kate Bostwick sits at sixth in service aces with 0.29 per set (10 total). Bostwick’s four service aces during a match against American (9/3) ties her for the conference’s sixth-best match-high.
Senior Shelley Sievers jumped up to fifth in the WCC in blocks per set with 1.0, while sophomore Marissa Plummer is tied for the conference’s second-best blocking performance for a single match with nine blocks total against American (9/5).
As a team, Portland has the conference’s second-best performance in service aces for one match with 11 (vs. American, 9/3), behind Pepperdine’s 13 (vs. Northern Arizona, 9/3). The Pilots sit third in team blocks for one match with 15 (vs. American, 9/5), bettered only by Gonzaga (17 vs. Utah State, 8/29) and Santa Clara (17.5 vs. Western Michigan, 8/30).
All-Tournament Material
In tournament action this season, senior Maria Clemens was named to the Varney’s Kansas State Invitational All-Tournament Team (9/12). Junior Jessica Clemens and sophomore Marissa Plummer were selected to both the 2009 Nike Portland Invitational All-Tournament Team (9/6) and the 2009 Nike Cougar Classic All-Tournament Team in Pullman, Wash. (8/29).
Sister Act
In 15 of 16 matches this season, it has been a Clemens sister (senior Maria or junior Jessica) who has led the Pilots offensively.
The Firepower
The Pilots return a variety of talent this year, losing three starters from a year ago. Three seniors are playing their final season in Pilot purple. Senior setter Kaylyn Jones is averaging 5.53 assists per set this season, while middle blocker Shelley Sievers wreaks havoc at the net with a team-high 1.0 blocks per set and 48 blocks total on the season. Outside hitter Maria Clemens, who brings together an effective combination of work ethic and athleticism to average 2.38 kills per set, 1.60 digs per set and 0.45 blocks per set.
The Pilots bring back plenty of firepower with junior Jessica Clemens and 2008 WCC All-Freshmen selection sophomore Marissa Plummer. Jessica Clemens currently leads the team with 3.06 kills per set and also contributes 2.91 digs per set. She leads the team in service aces so far this season with 11 (0.21 per set). Plummer consistently puts up numbers on both sides of the net with 1.72 kills and a 44 blocks total (0.81 bps).
Leading the Pilots’ defensive effort is junior libero Danielle Dupar who has a team-high 4.22 digs per set and 156 total. Sophomore outside hitter Kati Hronek has helped out on the attack with 1.60 kills per set, a team fourth-best.
The Newest Pilots
Six newcomers are enjoying their first season on The Bluff in 2009 including two redshirts. Junior Libero/DS Jessica Baty and freshman outside hitter Rachel Femling have made their debut as Pilots after a redshirt season last fall. Baty currently has a team-second-best 3.25 digs per set.
Kate Bostwick (5-9, Pendleton, Ore.), an outside hitter, is already making an impact with 1.09 kills and 1.34 digs per set. Bostwick is second on the team in service aces with 10 so far. Coming to UP from Pendleton High, Bostwick was an Oregon 5A First Team All-State selection as a junior and Intermountain Conference Volleyball Player of the Year her senior year.
Madison Smith (5-10, Palos Verdes, Calif.) has been sharing duty at the setter position and posts a team-second-best 4.60 assists per set. Smith has also sent over eight service aces. Smith, from Palos Verdes High School, was co-MVP of the Division IAA Bay League during her senior year.
Middle blocker Ariel Usher (6-1, Forest Grove, Ore.) has a team-high .199 hitting percentage with 1.41 kills per set. Usher has been strong at the net with 36 blocks total, good enough for the team’s second best. From Glencoe High School, Usher was a first team All-State Selection as a junior and was named the Northwest Oregon Conference (NWOC) Volleyball Player of the Year during both her junior and senior seasons.
Rounding out the incoming class is Jessica Nguyen (5-2, Beaverton, Ore.), a DS from Southridge High who was the Metro League Co-Player of the Year as a senior and all-state honorable mention. The team looks well positioned to begin a new tradition with this core group and the additions to come in the future.
Click here for Question & Answer with the Pilot volleyball freshmen.
Pilots in the News
The sister act of Maria and Jessica Clemens was featured in The Oregonian on Sept. 28. (Full article)
Junior Danielle Dupar was featured in her hometown newspaper the Marin Independent Journal on Sept. 3. (Full article)
Head Coach Joe Houck and the UP volleyball program were the focus of a Portland Examiner article entitled “Pilot Volleyball: Tomorrow’s Cinderella Story” on Aug. 20. (Full article)
