PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland battled through five sets against Santa Clara, but the Broncos would prevail 3-2 over the Pilots in the Chiles Center Saturday afternoon. The Pilots (9-7, 2-2) claimed the first and third sets with scores of 25-22 and 25-21, and the Broncos (10-7, 1-4) won three with scores of 25-19, 25-17, and 15-8.
 
Hannah Troutman started off the first set with a strong kill, but Santa Clara rallied to keep the set close for the next 12 points. The Broncos then went on a three-point run, but Sarah Savoca planted a kill to stop their momentum. Katie Sullivan and Troutman then followed with a block to spark several points for Pilots, who regained the lead. Savoca and Troutman added back-to-back kills to increase the lead by four to make it 20-16. Following a solo block from Sullivan, the Broncos rallied several points with kills from Hailey Lindberg, Taylor Odom, and Sabrina Clayton to bring them within one point. But the Pilots held on to claim the final set point with a powerful kill from Reghan Pukis.
 
The Pilots opened up the second set with a three-point run, but the Broncos responded with two kills just before Markwith went up for a huge solo block. Santa Clara then went on a six-point run headed by kills from Nikki Hess. A double kill from Savoca along with a service ace from Morgan Robinson initiated a three-point run pulled the Pilots within 15-12. Pukis, Sullivan, and Troutman combined for kills to try to close the gap from there, but Broncos held on to the lead and registered the final points to take set 25-19.
 
The Broncos began the third set with a three-point run before Pukis recorded a kill to even the score 5-5. Troutman then registered a pair of kills to tie score 10-10. The Broncos and Pilots fought back and forth for the next several points. Tied up at 15-15 off of a kill from Santa Clara's Jensen Cunningham, Troutman and Savoca both recorded kills along with an ace from Troutman for a four-point run. The Broncos tried to fight back with several kills from Cunningham, but the Pilots took the final points with crucial kills from Sullivan and Pukis to win the set 24-21.
 
Santa Clara came out with two four-point runs to start the fourth set despite impressive point rallies from the Pilots. Four kills from Savoca made an attempt the close the point gap, but the Broncos put together a solid defensive effort to keep the lead at 19-12. Santa Clara then put together several more kills to end set 25-17.
 
Santa Clara earned the first three points of the fifth set, but the Pilots put together an impressive rally to tie it up 4-4. The Broncos then tried to pull away with a lead of three points before the Pilots battled to win the next two points off of kills from Thompson and Pukis. Santa Clara responded with a five-point run to claim the set and the match.
 
Three Pilots registered double digit figures in both kills and digs. Troutman led with 19 kills and 15 digs, Savoca with 13 kills and 10 digs, Pukis with 13 kills, and Monica Gajda with 16 digs. Thompson had 48 assists on the afternoon.

The Pilots are next in action on the road in So Cal at LMU and Pepperdine on Oct. 6 and 8.