PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots held off a San Francisco comeback to win 3-2 in the Chiles Center on Thursday night. The Pilots caught fire early by winning the first two sets, but the Dons responded winning sets three and four. Emily Liger led Portland with 21 kills and notched the final kill of the match to give the Pilots the win in the five set thriller.

Portland (12-10, 2-8 WCC) beat USF (16-8, 3-8 WCC) with set scores of 25-14, 25-19, 20-25, 19-25, and 15-13.

Liger had a pair of kills to get the Pilots rolling in the first. Continuing the run was Djurdjina Milovic who picked the ball out of the net and set up Katie Sullivan for a kill that doubled the Dons score at 8-4. The run extended to seven as Portland controlled the set 10-4 early on. The Pilots continued to control the momentum and a short three point run put the home side up by ten at 17-7. USF could not close the gap and a block by Brittney Markwith and Liger gave Portland the 25^th point of the set and the 1-0 match lead. Liger led both sides with seven kills during the set.

The Pilots won a very long rally that was kept along by some impressive reaction saves by Hannah Troutman to tie the set up at six. USF and Portland were point-for-point through the set until the Pilots pulled away from the Dons with a four point run to take the lead 18-13. The visitors from The City closed the lead to three at 21-18, but Portland finished off the set thanks to Sullivan's third kill of the match. Through the first two sets the Pilots held the Dons to a .083 hitting percentage.

The fifth team block on the night for Portland sent the Pilots on a five point run to go ahead of the Dons 10-6. USF chipped away at the Pilot lead and eventually tied the set up at 13. Sarah Savoca led Portland on a three point run to give the home side the lead once again, but the Dons responded scoring seven in a row to take the lead 20-16. Portland could not shake the USF momentum as the Dons escaped the sweep and forced a fourth set.

Competitive play continued in the beginning of the fourth with both sides battling for the lead. After the set was tied at 11, the Dons strung five unanswered points together to take the lead 16-11. This run proved pivotal in the set as Portland would not be able to close the gap. The Pilots turned away three set points, but USF won the set 25-19 and forced a fifth tie breaker set.

Portland responded in the fifth scoring the first two points of the set and gaining the momentum. The ninth team block of the match came from Liger and Markwith who teamed up to put the Pilots up 5-2. Portland extended the lead to five at 10-5 thanks to a pair of USF errors and clutch hitting by the Pilots. The Dons did not let up and worked back to tie the set at 12. Milovic stepped up to serve with Portland up 14-13 and after a couple of scramble plays Liger hit her 21^st kill of the match to give the Pilots their 12th win of the season.    

The Pilots will next be in action on Saturday, Oct. 31 when they host the Santa Clara Broncos at 12:00 p.m.