PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots volleyball team battled No.12 San Diego in a West Coast Conference match Thursday night in the Chiles Center. The Toreros topped the Pilots in three sets with scores of 25-16, 25-23, and 25-14.

San Diego jumped ahead 3-0 in the first set before senior Hannah Troutman and freshman Liz Reich produced and block, and Williams an ace, to come within one of USD. Troutman then added another kill and ace to level the set 4-4. Portland pulled ahead to 10-8 with kills from Troutman and senior Sarah Savoca, before the Toreros went on a run to push past the Pilots by three. USD continued to battle past the Pilots despite kills from Troutman and Katie Barker to move towards the final points of the first set. Ahead 21-16, the Toreros secured the final points with a four-point run to win 25-16.

Both teams fought evenly to start the second set before Troutman again pushed the Pilots forward with two aces and a block, with the addition of a kill from sophomore Katie Barker. Portland held onto the momentum after a San Diego point to claim four more for the 13-6 lead. The Toreros fought to close the gap with two short runs to come within two of the Pilots, but Troutman came up big with her fourth solo block of the night along with an ace from senior Morgan Robinson to make it 23-18 for the Pilots. USD stopped the Pilots there with an impressive seven-point run, ending the set 25-23 and taking the 2-0 match lead.

Again, with both teams even to start the third set, San Diego recorded two short runs to pull past Portland by four. Reich and Barker added two kills to break up Torero points, but USD answered with another lengthy run. With USD ahead 22-13, Pukis produced a kill to try and hold USD from match point, but the Toreros surged through the final three points to win the last set 25-14.

San Diego has three players above .500 in hit percentage. Troutman led the Pilots with 10 kills, and four blocks and Thompson had 26 assists.
 
The Pilots will be back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. to take on No.9 BYU. The team will honor their three seniors Hannah Troutman, Morgan Robinson, and Sarah Savoca.