PORTLAND PILOTS (8-6, 1-1 WCC)
WEEK 6: vs. SAN FRANCISCO / SANTA CLARA
 
San Francisco Dons (4-11, 0-2 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Sept. 29, 2016
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Facility: Chiles Center
TV: CSN-NW
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. USF
Overall Series: 24-37
H: 14-14 • A: 10-23 • N: 0-0
Last: @POR 3, USF 2 (10/29/2015)
 
Santa Clara Broncos (9-5, 0-2 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Oct. 1, 2016
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 1:00 PM
Facility: Chiles Center
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. SCU
Overall Series: 8-50
H: 5-23 • A: 3-26 • N: 0-1
Last: @POR 3, SCU 2 (10/31/2015)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots return home to continue the second week of play in the West Coast Conference in the Chiles Center.
• The Pilots will first face the San Francisco Dons on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Then the Santa Clara Broncos visit on Saturday at 1 p.m.
• Thursday's match is the first televised competition for the Pilots on CSN-NW, which is Ch. 737 in the Portland area.
• Both matches will also be streamed live on theW.tv, and live stats can be found on PortlandPilots.com
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots took to the road for the first weekend of conference play when they headed down to the Bay Area to face Pacific and Saint Mary's.
• After going down two sets to start the match against Pacific on Thursday, Portland won the third to rally. But the Tigers won the last set to top the Pilots 3-1.
• Junior Hannah Troutman marked a career high against Pacific with 24 kills on the night, topping her previous high of 23, which she set against Pepperdine last season.
•After the Gaels started off Saturday's match with the first-set win, the Pilots came back to win three straight sets to take the match 3-1.
• Three Pilots recorded double digit kills and double digit digs against the Gaels. Troutman led the Pilots with 18 kills, followed by Katie Sullivan with 12, and Reghan Pukis with 11. Monica Gajda led the Pilots in digs with a total of 20 for the match, with Troutman and Lauren Naatz just behind her with 12 each.
 
About the Pilots
• The Pilots are currently ninth in the nation and first in the WCC in both in aces per set (1.91) and total aces (103).
• Opening the 2016 season, the Pilots have defeated all three tournament host teams they have faced, and outright won the most recent tournament they played in, the Maroon Classic in Starkville, Miss. Hannah Troutman received All-Tournament Honors at the Bulldog Showdown (Sept. 2-3) and landed tourney MVP at the Maroon Classic. Thompson, Mandon, and Sullivan also received All-Tournament honors at the Maroon Classic, and Gajda was named Best Libero.
• Several Pilots are ranked top-five in the WCC in a few different statistical categories.
• Freshman Cali Thompson (21) and junior Morgan Robinson (19) rank second and third in the WCC for service aces, and they're third and fourth in the conference for aces per set with .39 and .35, respectively.
• Thompson is also second in total assists (514) and third in assists per set (9.52).
• Senior Katie Sullivan is third in the league with total blocks (57).
• Junior Hannah Troutman is ranked first in conference for total points (229.5), second in total kills (196), third in total attacks (549), fourth in points per set (4.25) and attacks per set (10.17), and fifth in kills per set (3.63).
• Libero Monica Gajda is third in the conference with 215 digs.
• The Pilots are coming off a historical year and returned nine letter winners and five starters this season.
• Sophomore transfer Reghan Pukis, who comes to Portland from UNLV after spending one year in Las Vegas, is one of five newcomers.
• Head coach Brent Crouch is in his third year at the helm and looks to build upon last year's accomplishments.
• Joining Crouch on the Portland staff are first-year assistant coaches Jeff Baxter and Betsy Sedlak and Rick Moller joining the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant.
• Last season was the program's best ever start to a season, with 10 wins in the first 11 games.
• 2015 also marked the most homes wins (10) in program history since competing at the NCAA D1 level.
• On October 15, 2015, the Pilots defeated their first ever ranked team, sweeping San Diego 3-0.
• Brittney Markwith recorded the second most blocks in a season in program history with a total of 119.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
• San Francisco and Santa Clara are both coming off a tough weekend, where they faced then-No. 7 San Diego and then-No. 13 BYU, and were swept in both matches.
• The Dons have three players with triple-digit kills on the season. They are led by freshman Tyna Adamcikova who has 118 kills, 25 service aces, and 98 digs on the season. Senior Emily Reed and freshman Kate Ashman also have kills in the triple digits with 175 and 102, respectfully.
• Defensively, USF's back line is led by Kim Gutierrez's 153 digs. Ashman has 37 total blocks to tag-team alongside Oskam, who has 45 blocks.
• To start the season for Santa Clara, the Broncos spent 14 matches on the road. They will return to the Leavey Center on Tuesday to play Pacific, before making the trip up to the Northwest to first face the Pilots before heading to Spokane to take on Gonzaga.
• The Broncos have four players in the triple digit kill range and 100 digs for the season so far: junior Jensen Cunningham (136 Kills), sophomore Hailey Lindberg (108 kills), freshman Taylor Laugero (238 digs), and seniors Nikki Hess (174 kills, 138 digs), Sabrina Clayton (156 kills, 112 digs), and Mary Shepard (105 digs).