MALIBU, Calif. --- The Portland Pilots faced Pepperdine Thursday night in the Firehouse Fieldhouse as the first match of the second half of conference on the road. The Waves claimed three sets over the Pilots with scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-19.

Though the Pilots (14-10, 5-7) took the first two points of the set, Pepperdine (14-12, 6-7) produced a six-point run to pull ahead by four. The Waves continued to push their lead to 14-7 before seniors Hannah Troutman and Sarah Savoca, along with freshman Liz Reich added three kills in attempt to catch Pepperdine. The two teams exchanged the next several points, until the Waves ended the set with a short run, led by back-to-back kills from Jasmine Gross.

With Pepperdine ahead by one in the second set, the Waves put together a lengthy run to extend their lead to 10-4. Junior Reghan Pukis and Katie Barker answered with two kills and an ace, but Pepperdine regained their momentum to record another short run, led by kills from Alli O'Harra, Heidi Dyer, and Hannah Frohling. Troutman and senior Morgan Robinson responded with two kills and an ace, followed by another kill from Troutman moments later to shrinking the 18-14 lead for Pepperdine. The Waves continued to hold strong, motioning towards set point to win 25-19 with a block by O'Harra and Dyer.

Both teams battled back and forth for the majority of the third set, before Pukis produced back-to-back kills to push the Pilots ahead by two. After a Pepperdine timeout, Pukis maintained her momentum to record another kill, but the Waves answered with a run with two kills from Frohling to jump past the Pilots by one. Reich and Troutman put together two more kills to come within one of the Waves, but Pepperdine continued to battle towards match point with kills from Ashley Harris and O'Harra. Dyer then finalized the match with the last kill to end the set at 25-19 for the Waves.

Troutman led the Pilots with her 13^th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 10 digs. Pukis was just behind her with 15 kills. Thompson also had a double-double with 34 assists and 12 digs. Robinson and freshman Carey Williams each had 13 and 10 digs, respectively.

The Pilots will be back in action Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles, Calif., taking on the LMU Lions in the Gersten Pavilion.