SANTA CLARA BRONCOS
(6-18, 1-11 WCC)
 
Day: Thursday
Date: Nov. 01, 2018
Place: Santa Clara, Calif.
Time: 7:00 PM
Facility: Leavey Center
Video: TheWtv.com
Stats: SantaClaraBroncos.com
 
POR vs. SC
Overall Series: 11-54
H: 6-26 •  A: 5-27  •  N: 0-1
Last: @POR 3, SC 0 (10.06.18)
 
SAN FRANCISCO DONS
(8-15, 1-11 WCC)
 
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 03, 2018
Place: San Francisco, Calif.
Time: 12:00 PM
Facility: War Memorial
Video: TheWtv.com
Stats: UsfDons.com
 
POR vs. USF
Overall Series: 30-37
H: 17-12 •  A: 13-25  •  N: 0-0
Last: @POR 3, USF 0 (10.04.18)
 
THIS WEEK
• After hosting the two top teams in the WCC, the Pilots head south for matches against Santa Clara and San Francisco.
• Portland will first play Santa Clara on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., and finish their weekend against San Francisco at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.
• Live video for the match can be found TheWtv.com, and stats for the match can be found at Santaclarabroncos.com and Usfdons.com, respectively.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots lost both of their match's this past weekend: No. 1 BYU defeated Portland in three sets, before the Pilots sparked a comeback against San Diego after a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth and final set, with USD eventually claiming the match 3-2.
• Over the weekend, Junior Cali Thompson had 72 assists and 10 digs, while junior Izzy Guzik had a double-double for the second week in a row, having 10 kills and 14 digs against USD.
• Junior Katie Barker was the catalyst for the Pilots rally against the Toreros, having 14 kills and a season high eight total blocks.
 
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.
• The following week, VolleyMob placed the Pilots at No. 27 in the country, while Portland currently sits at No. 18 in VolleyballMag.com's most recent Mid-Major Poll.
• Nationally, the Pilots rank 27th in hitting percentage (.269).
• Within the WCC, the Pilots are second in digs per set (14.33), and third in team assists (1,027) and team kills (1,083).
• Sophomore Libero Carey Williams has had an impressive 2018 campaign, ranking No. 1 in the WCC in digs per set (4.41) and total digs (366).
• Junior Katie Barker is on path this season to be No. 6 in single season history in blocks per set with 1.12.
• Junior Cali Thompson continues to climb the record books, now ranking fifth all-time in UP program history with 3,234 career assists.
• Senior Reghan Pukis is No. 8 all-time at Portland in career kills per set (3.22).
• 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 Pilots begin their road trip against Santa Clara, who are 6-18 (1-11 WCC) this season.
• Santa Clara lost to LMU and Pepperdine last week, in two close matches
• They were selected to place sixth in conference by the WCC Coaches Preseason Poll.
• The Broncos are first in the WCC in digs per set (14.82) and team digs (1,260), and are led by freshman Michelle Shaffer, who leads the team in kills (245) and is second in digs (232)
• Portland then finish's their road trip against the University of San Francisco (8-15, 1-11 WCC) on their program's Senior Day.
• USF, looking for their first WCC win since conference opener against Santa Clara, coincidentally lost to Pepperdine and LMU this past week.
• The Dons were selected to place 10th in conference by the WCC Coaches Preseason Poll
• Within the WCC, the Dons are second in total team blocks (184.5), and are led by sophomore libero Anna Dalla Vecchia who is No. 4 in the conference in total digs (336).