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PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots beat the San Francisco Dons in five sets on Thursday night at the Chiles Center. The Pilots were led by senior Bea Loper who recorded a career high 18 kills.

Portland (6-17, 1-11 WCC) beat San Francisco (12-13, 5-8 WCC) with set scores of 25-20, 25-27, 25-16, 22-25, and 15-12.

The Don's jumped to an early 5-2 lead, but the Pilots worked back to tie the first set at 8-8. A long rally on the next point ended when sophomore Katie Sullivan and Loper paired up for a block on a USF attack.  This play sent Portland on a four point run that put the Pilots up 13-8. The Dons made a three point run to pull within two of the Pilots at 13-11, but Portland responded and increased the lead. The Dons countered late and were within one of the Pilots at 20-19, but Portland won five of the next six points to win the first set. Loper led the way for Portland offensively with five kills, while Sullivan contributed a pair of key blocks.

The two sides were within two points of each other through the beginning of the second set until the Dons went ahead 12-9. The USF lead would not last long as Portland worked back to tie the set at 15-15. Portland kept the ball off the floor on two separate occasions with some well timed defensive pancakes which allowed them to go up 17-15. The lead did not last as the two teams battled point-for-point down the stretch. With the Dons up 25-24, the Pilots evaded the second set point of the game when freshman Ali Koumelis ended a long rally with a heads up setter dump. USF earned the next two points to take the second set and tie the match at 1-1. Loper continued to lead the Pilots recording six kills on the set.

Portland jumped out to a 3-0 lead to start the third set. The Pilots continued to stay ahead of the Dons and expanded their lead to seven at 16-9 off of a cross court kill by Loper. Down by seven at 18-11, USF went on a three point run out of a timeout to cut the Pilot lead to four at 18-14. Good blocking and strong kills by the Pilots kept them ahead of the Dons through the latter half of the game. Sophomore Brittney Markwith's third kill of the match gave Portland the 25^th point of the third set, giving them the 2-1 match lead. The Pilots were led by Sullivan's four kills during the set.

After trading points for the beginning of the fourth, USF went ahead by four with a 10-6 scoreline. Portland responded and went on a 6-2 run to tie the game at 12-12. The Pilots and Dons were tied at 13, 14, 17 and 18, before Portland took a two point lead at 21-19. USF came back scoring six of the next seven points to win the game and force a tie breaker set. Sullivan contributed a block assist and had a team high five kills during the set.

The Pilots took a 5-3 lead to start the fifth set. A kill by Sullivan increased the lead 6-3 and Portland further separated from USF going up 9-5. Up four, sophomore Makayla Lindburg earned the 13^th point for the Pilots with her 10^th kill of the match. USF then held off two Pilot match points before Sullivan hit her 17^th kill of the match to give Portland their first conference win of the season.

Portland had seven service aces during the match with Markwith leading the way with three of her own. The Pilots also out blocked the Dons 10.5 to six. Sullivan tied her career high 17 kills during the match.

This is the first conference win under first year head coach Brent Crouch. The Pilots went 0-18 in conference last season. 

The Pilots are next in action on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.  when they host the Santa Clara Broncos.