GONZAGA BULLDOGS
(6-13, 3-5 WCC) 

Day: Saturday
Date: Oct. 20, 2018
Place: Spokane, Wash.
Time: 12:00 PM
Facility: Charlotte Y. Martin Center
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: gozags.com

POR vs. GONZ
Overall Series: 22-47
H: 13-19 •  A: 10-24  •  N: 0-0
Last: GON 3, @POR 2 (11/20/2017)

THIS WEEK 
• The Pilots fly north to Spokane, to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs for a lone match weekend. 
• Portland will play the Bulldogs on Saturday at 12:00 PM. 
• Live video for this weekend's match-up can be found at TheW.tv, and live stats can be found at gozags.com

LAST WEEK
• The Pilots swept the Pacific Tigers on Oct. 11th, and won their first ever match at the Alex G. Spanos Center. 
• Their second set hitting percentage at Stockton was .738, the highest hitting percentage within a single set since a Sept. 1st, 2012 match against UNLV (.750).
• Following their third straight sweep the Pilots lost a competitive match, losing 3-1 against the Saint Mary's Gaels on Oct. 13th. 
• Junior Katie Barker was the sparkplug that kept the Pilots in their match at Moraga, recording a career high 17 kills.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• First-year head coach Jeff Baxter led the Pilots to their best start in program history, going a perfect 12-0.
• The 12-match winning streak was the longest in program history.
• Thanks to their 9-0 start, the Pilots received four votes in the NCAA AVCA Coaches' Poll during week four, marking the first time in program history that the UP volleyball team has received votes.
• Following the 12-0 start, VolleyMob placed the Pilots at No. 27 in the country, while Portland this week sits tied with Kennesaw St. at No. 13 in VolleyballMag.com's most recent Mid-Major Poll.
• Nationally, the Pilots rank 18th in hitting percentage (.271). 
• Within the WCC, the Pilots are No. 3 in team assists (843), team kills (887), team service aces (101) and team total blocks (143.5).
• Junior Cali Thompson has had an impressive 2018 campaign, ranking No. 32 in the country in assists per set (10.90) and total assists (741).
• Thompson now ranks fifth all-time in UP program history with 3,123 career assists.
• Senior Reghan Pukis is No. 8 all-time at Portland in career kills per set (3.26).
• Junior middle blocker Shayla Hoeft was named the initial WCC Player of the Week of 2018, after she helped lead the Pilots to an undefeated opening weekend and the 2018 Aztec Invitational title.
• Hoeft was named the tournament's MVP after the Pilots clinched all three matches. She led the Pilots in kills (38), kills per set (3.8), hitting percentage amongst starters (.457) and tied for the team lead in blocks (10).
• Head Coach Jeff Baxter is not the only coach on the staff with an impressive resume: assistant coach Betsy Sedlak was recently chosen as a UC Davis CAA Hall of Fame inductee, thanks to her role as middle blocker for her alma-mater. She amassed 393 total blocks, good for second all-time, and led the Aggies to their only 20-win seasons of the Division I era.    
• The Pilots returned three of the top four leaders in kills from a year ago, led by senior Reghan Pukis who totaled 367 kills as a junior.
• Cali Thompson registered 1,174 assist last year, which ranks No. 5 on Portland's all-time single-season list.
• Baxter, who was an assistant under former head coach Brent Crouch for the past two seasons, took over the program during the off-season after Crouch was hired as at USC.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS 
• The Gonzaga Bulldogs are 6-13 (3-5) on the season so far, coming off a winless weekend against Saint Mary's and Pacific. 
• The Bulldogs were selected to place fifth in the WCC according to the 2018 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Within the WCC, they're No. 3 in digs per set (14.59).
• They're led by sophomore Sarah Penner and senior Tiyana Hallums: Penner leads the team in kills (211) and points (238.5), while Hallums is No. 1 in the WCC in digs per set (4.60) and No. 2 in total digs (299).