PORTLAND, Ore. ---  The Portland Pilots topped the Dons 4-1 to start the second half of the West Coast Conference, Saturday afternoon in the Chiles Center. Portland battled through four sets with scores of 25-15, 20-25, 25-23, and 25-12.

The Pilots (14-9, 5-6) initially pulled away in the first set with a short run led by a combination of kills from seniors Sarah Savoca, Hannah Troutman and sophomore Cali Thompson. Marjolijn Oskam produced a kill in attempt to slow Portland's scoring spree, but the Pilots answered with a pair of two more runs by kills from sophomore Katie Barker and junior Reghan Pukis, bringing Portland to the final points of the set. Moments later, Savoca claimed the final kill to give the Pilots the 25-15 set win.  

The Dons (3-21, 0-11) pulled ahead early by three points in the second set. Though USF held the lead for the majority of the set, Portland battled back to level the score 17-17 with kills from Troutman and an ace from Barker. USF produce two more runs to push to set point, prompting Laura Leap to finalize the set with a kill to level the score 1-1 with the Pilots.  
San Francisco again took an early four-point lead, before Troutman and senior Morgan Robinson added a kill and an ace to bring the Pilots within one of the Dons. USF responded with kills from Leap, Kate Ashman and Erica Ronda to widen their lead. Several points later, the Pilots sparked another attempt at a comeback with kills from Savoca, Troutman and Barker. Even at 22-22, the Pilots surged through the final three points with two kills and a block by Thompson and Barker to push ahead in the match 2-1.  
The Pilots caught fire in the fourth set, led by three aces in a row from Robinson to jump ahead 10-1. Though the Dons ended Portland's momentum with a short run of their own, Pukis registered three kills to bring the Pilots towards the end of the match. Naone and Troutman added to more kills, before Barker and Troutman secured the match with a block, ending the set 25-12.
 
Troutman led the Pilots with a double-double of 22 kills and 13 digs. Pukis and Savoca also had double-digit kills with 15 and 10. Robinson and junior Lauren Naatz produced 11 and 10 digs, respectively and Thompson registered 46 assists.
 
The Pilots will next head to Southern California to take on Pepperdine and LMU on Nov. 2 and 4.