PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots battled the Santa Clara Broncos in a West Coast Conference match, Thursday night in the Chiles Center. Santa Clara topped the Pilots with set scores of 25-18, 25-23, and 25-21.

The Broncos (11-12, 4-7) jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, before senior Hannah Troutman and Sarah Savoca, along with sophomore Cali Thompson produced two kills and an ace to level the score. The Pilots (13-9, 4-6) pushed ahead by two with a kill from Savoca and held the two-point lead for the next several points. Hailey Lindenberg motioned a comeback for the Broncos with two kills, sparking a five-point run. With the Broncos ahead by three, Troutman attempted to slow Santa Clara's momentum, but the Broncos continued to cruise towards set point and finalize the score 25-18.

Both teams played evenly at the start of the second set, until the Broncos pulled ahead with a kill each from Michelle Gajdka and Lindenberg. The Pilots fought to close the gap with kills from Troutman, but Santa Clara answered with a short run to maintain their lead. Troutman led a five-point run with three consecutive kills to level the score, but the Broncos again pulled away by two to force Portland to take a timeout. The Pilots continued to battle to keep Santa Clara from reaching set point, but Allison Kantor closed out the set for the with two crucial kills to put the Broncos 2-0 going into the third set. 

Portland initially pulled ahead with a short run, and extended that lead by five with kills from Savoca, Troutman, and junior Reghan Pukis. The Broncos then responded with several short runs for another attempt at a comeback. Gajdka evened up the set 20-20 with a kill creating momentum for the Broncos to surge to match point with another short run, finalizing the set 25-21.

Troutman led the Pilots with a double-double of 20 kills and 15 digs. Thompson had 32 assists.

The Pilots will next look to close out the weekend against USF on Saturday at 1 p.m.