Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. --- Junior OH Ariel Usher posted a career-high 24 kills to lead four Pilots in double digit kills, but the San Francisco Dons eked out a four set victory over the Portland Pilots Thursday night at the War Memorial Gym in a West Coast Conference match (26-24, 26-28, 25-23, 25-19).
The tough luck loss gives Portland an 8-19 record on the season with a 2-12 record in WCC play. Snapping a three match losing streak to the Pilots, the Dons improve to 14-12 overall, 6-7 in conference play.
“It was a tremendous match that was well played on both sides of the net,” head coach Joe Houck said following the match. “Ariel was as good as I have seen her while Monica, Jessica, and Katie were stellar defensively.”
Usher entered the match leading the Pilots in kills and got off to a blazing start. Hitting .615 with eight kills in the first set, the Hillsboro, Ore., native gave the Pilots a 24-22 lead with a kill followed by a service ace. San Francisco rebounded at the right moment, running off four consecutive points to steal the set from the Pilots.
Sophomore setter Monica Jordan opened the attack in the second set, setting four different Pilots up with four or more kills apiece. The back-and-forth set featured 18 ties and five lead changes, with neither team scoring more than three points in a row.
Portland faced set point twice in the second, but kills from junior OH Kate Bostwick and Usher returned the serve to the Pilots on both occasions. The Pilots then capitalized on a pair of USF errors, including a pivotal block assist from Usher and redshirt-junior Rachel Femling, allowing the Pilots to tie the set heading into the intermission.
San Francisco built a 20-15 lead in the third set before the Pilots turned up the heat, using a 7-2 run to tie the set at 22. Just like in the first set, however, the Dons regained their composure, taking three of the final four points to take the critical 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set mirrored the rest of the match as neither team could assert their authority early in the set. Trailing 17-16, however, the Dons assembled a 9-2 run to close the match and pick up the victory.
Overall, the match featured 41 ties and 14 lead changes with each teams’ overall numbers looking very similar. Both teams finished with 63 kills, while the Pilots held a slight edge in assists (61-to-58), service aces (6-to-5), and digs (72-to-63). USF had nine blocks compared to UP’s six.
Freshman libero Katie Mardesich led all players with 25 digs, matching her career-high set against Pepperdine on September 22. Junior DS Jessica Nguyen added nine digs and two service aces for the Pilots.
Aside from Usher’s 24 kills, Bostwick (11), senior OH Kati Hronek (10) and senior MB Marissa Plummer (10) all recorded double-digit kills, giving Jordan 57 assists on the night.
San Francisco was led by two players with double doubles. Alycia Cox recorded 17 kills and 10 digs while Jocelyn Levig had 16 kills and 12 digs.
The Pilots now head to Santa Clara where they will take on the Broncos on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
