MORAGA, Calif. --- The Portland Pilots came back to win three in a row after being down a set to Saint Mary's in Saturday's West Coast Conference volleyball match in the McKeon Pavillion. After the Gaels claimed the first set 25-19, Portland won the next three sets with scores of 25-22, 25-23, and 25-10.
 
The first set started off back-and-forth between the Pilots and the Gales. Katie Sullivan led the Portland with three kills in a row, backed by Sarah Savoca and Hannah Troutman, who added kills of their own to make it 6-5 in favor of the Pilots. Saint Mary's then went on a four-point run to take the lead, but Troutman added another two kills to keep the Pilots within two. The Gaels responded with another run to widen a gap, led by kills from Lindsey Knudsen. Morgan Robinson and Brittney Markwith then tried to team up to slow SMC's, momentum bringing the Pilots within five, but Saint Mary's held on to take the 1-0 lead.
 
Double kills in the second set from Troutman led the Pilots to a 4-0 lead, and the visitors continued to lead with kills from Sullivan and Pukis. The Gaels gained some momentum, but Troutman and Sulllivan then combined again to register kills for the Pilots, bringing the score to 15-8. Sullivan continued the attack with two more kills to counter the Gaels' five-point run, but Portland had an answer, and Savoca finished the set with a kill to even the match 1-1.
 
The Pilots led third set 8-5 with kills from Reghan Pukis, Savoca and Robinson. Portland then went on a four-point run, and continued to hold the lead at 15-10 with a double kill from Pukis and a service ace from Cali Thompson. Djurdjina Milovic then added an ace of her own, and Savoca and Troutman added two more kills to keep the lead 18-13. The Gaels then went on a seven-point run to make a comeback to tie it up 20-20, but the Pilots went on a four-point run of their own to win the set 25-23.
 
The final set of the match stated out close with the Gaels and Pilots fighting for the lead.  Portland then went on a huge eight-point run, to bring the score to 13-4. Markwith, Troutman and Sullivan continued the momentum for the Pilots with kills to make it a 10-point game. Three kills from Sullivan and a key kill from Troutman ended the set 25-10 to hand the Pilots the road win.
 
Three Pilots notched double-digit kills, led by Troutman with 18, followed by Sullivan with 12, and Pukis with 11. Three Pilots also tallied double digit digs, led by Monica Gajda with 20. Troutman and Lauren Naatz recorded 12. Markwith and Savoca each came up with six blocks and Cali Thompson registered 49 assists for the match
 
The Pilots will next be back in action on Thursday night in the Chiles Center facing San Francisco at 7 p.m. The match will be shown live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest.