Box Score
Usher Eclipses 1,000 Career Kill Mark
SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- Becoming just the tenth player in Portland Pilots history with 1,000 career kills, senior outside hitter Ariel Usher joined exclusive company during the first set of Portland’s 3-1 loss (25-16,25-14,20-25,25-16) to the No. 16 San Diego Toreros Saturday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
“It feels awesome,” Usher said afterwards. “All I’m trying to do is help the team win, so in a sense it’s bittersweet because it’s frustrating that we did not come out on top. I feel very excited to get to a thousand though; that’s always been on my goals.”
Usher, who finished with 11 kills for the Pilots (6-12, 0-4 WCC), becomes the first Portland player since 2008 to surpass the plateau when Jennifer Sheedy and Ashley Grayson both reached the mark.
“Ariel has been a main weapon over her Pilot career and it is no surprise to see her drop her 1000th career bomb,” Portland head coach Joe Houck said following the match. “Hopefully she will continue her momentum as the year continues.”
After the 16th-ranked Toreros (12-2, 4-0 WCC) captured the first two sets, Usher opened the third set with a pair of quick kills. San Diego responded with a 6-2 run before the Pilots offense clicked into rhythm.
Sophomore middle blocker Bea Loper snapped the run on a pass from freshman setter Lexi Dempsey before junior outside hitter Autumn Wedan fired off three kills in a row to bring the Pilots within two.
With Wedan now serving, the Pilots run continued with sophomore outside hitter Sam Moore finishing an attack into the Toreros open court. Senior middle blocker Rachel Femling then posted two kills of her own, sandwiching a pair of San Diego errors in the process to give the Pilots a 13-11.
When Loper and Usher stuffed a San Diego attack, the Toreros called a timeout, temporarily slowing the Pilots by ending a 9-3 run. The momentum remained on Portland’s side for the remainder of the set as the Pilots claimed their first set in San Diego since the 2008 season.
As the attackers put the points on the board, Portland’s backline kept San Diego off the board with the combination of senior Jessica Nguyen and sophomores Jacky Rodriguez and Katie Mardesich anchoring the defense.
“The main factor in the third game for us was the ball control off serve receive, noted Houck. “Katie really helped settled our serve receive and Jacky continued to frustrate San Diego’s efforts. It was an effective option for us and nice to have so many great options including Jess defensively.”
After playing nine of their last 11 matches on the road, Portland returns home to continue West Coast Conference play against the Santa Clara Broncos and San Francisco Dons next weekend. The Pilots and Broncos play Thursday at 7 p.m. with Saturday’s match against the Dons scheduled for 1 p.m.
