SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- The San Diego Toreros held off the Portland Pilots in three sets on Thursday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Hannah Troutman, Emily Liger, and Katie Sullivan led the Pilots with six kills each during the match.

USD (12-6, 6-1 WCC) held off Portland (11-8, 1-6 WCC) with set scores of 25-17, 26-24, and 25-15.

The Toreros sit just outside of the national top 25 ranking and are tied for first in the West Coast Conference.

USD took a commanding early lead, but the Pilots worked back into the set with key blocks and solid serving. A scramble rally ended with a Sarah Savoca kill to set the score at 15-9 in favor of USD. This play sent Portland on a 5-1 run that ended with a Mikaela Nocetti service ace at the16-13 scoreline. The Toreros earned the next couple of points which forced Portland head coach Brent Crouch to call a time out. Out of the break the Pilots scored the next three points to cut the USD lead to two. The Toreros continued their heavy hitting to pull away from Portland using a .429 hitting percentage to claim the first set.

The third Portland ace of the match gave the Pilots a 3-1 advantage in the second. The two sides were point-for-point until Portland hit four in a row to separate from USD. Djurdjina Milovic sent a pass from the back court, over her head towards Liger whose attack hit the Torero floor to put Portland up 12-8. USD and Portland traded points through the middle of the set until Sullivan and Troutman hit a pair of kills in a row to give the Pilots a three point lead at 20-17. USD's Lisa Kramer notched a pair of kills to tie the set at 21; the first tie of the set since both sides were level at eight. The Toreros did not lead in the set until taking the lead at 24-23. Portland held off one set point, but USD finished strong stealing the second set 26-24.

A solo block by Liger and then Sullivan's fourth kill of the match cut the USD lead to two at 7-5. The Toreros then scored four points in a row to create a six point gap between the two sides. Milovic won an impressive joust at the net to gain Portland's 11th point of the set, but the Toreros still held an eight point lead. The deficit proved too much to come back from as USD went on to win the final set and match.

The Pilots continue their road trip on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12:00 p.m. (PST) against the #13 BYU Cougars.