LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS
(18-7, 8-6 WCC)
 
Day: Thursday
Date: Nov. 15, 2018
Place: Los Angeles, Calif.
Time: 7:00 PM
Facility: Gersten Pavilion
Video: TheWtv.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. LMU
Overall Series: 10-54
H: 8-25 •  A: 2-30  •  N: 0-1
Last: @POR 2, LMU 3 (09.22.18)

PEPPERDINE WAVES
(17-8, 11-4 WCC)
 
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 17, 2018
Place: Los Angeles, Calif.
Time: 11:00 AM
Facility: John Wooden Center
Video: TheWtv.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. PEPP
Overall Series: 6-57
H: 4-28 •  A: 2-29  •  N: 0-0
Last: @POR 0, PEPP 3 (09.20.18)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots return to the road one last time this season, facing off against the Loyola Marymount Lions and the Pepperdine Waves.
• Portland will first play Saint Mary's on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., while their Saturday match against Pepperidne will be relocated to the John Wooden Center on UCLA's campus due to the Woosley Fire occurring in Malibu. The match will be played at 11:00 a.m.
• Live video and stats for the match can be found at lmulions.com and pepperdinewaves.com, respectively.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots lost both of their matches this past week, featuring a five-set comeback by the Saint Mary's Gaels and a three-set victory by the Pacific Tigers.
• Junior Cali Thompson's 72 assists over the weekend pushed her up to fourth in the all-time record books in career assists.
• Junior Katie Barker led the Pilots in kills over the weekend with 23, adding 8 total blocks, while sophomore Carey Williams had 26 digs and 12 assists.
 
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.
• The Pilots win at San Francisco on Nov. 3rd was their 18th of the year, securing their highest win total during a season in program history, the previous high being in 2016 with 17.
• Nationally, the Pilots rank 42nd in hitting percentage (.248) and 31st in aces per set (1.56).
• Within the WCC, the Pilots are second in team service aces (156), and third in digs per set (14.37), team assists (1,221 and team kills (1,289).
• Junior Katie Barker has had a remarkable 2018 campaign: she's on path this season to be No. 2 in single season history in hitting percentage with .350, No. 5 in block assists (99 ) and No. 7 in blocks per set with 1.10.
• Sophomore Libero Carey Williams has had an impressive 2018 season as well, ranking No. 1 in the WCC in total digs (426) and second in digs per set (4.07).
• Junior Cali Thompson continues to climb the record books, now ranking fourth all-time in UP program history with 3,401  career assists, passing Megan Staropoli (1984-86, 3,359 assists) last week.
• Senior Reghan Pukis is No. 8 all-time at Portland in career kills per set (3.17).
• 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 among 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.
• 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 weekend against Loyola Marymount (16-7, 8-5 WCC), who defeated Saint Mary's and lost to Pacific in their previous two matches.
• They were selected to place third in conference by the WCC Coaches Preseason Poll.
• The Lions are first in the WCC in team service aces (1.84), assists per set (13.72), and kills per set (14.41). They're led by junior Tess Reid, who leads the WCC in assists per set (11.99) and is second on the Lions in digs (216).
• Portland will then finish their roadtrip against Pepperdine (17-8, 11-4 WCC), who went to five sets in both of their previous matches, losing to Pacific and defeating Hawai'i.
• They were selected to place fourth in conference by the WCC Coaches Preseason Poll.
• Portland's match against Pepperdine on Saturday has been relocated: Pepperdine University officials have closed the campus through Thanksgiving due to the Woolsey fire in the Malibu area.
• The Waves rank second in conference in aces per set (1.62), and third in kills per set (.254). They're led by junior Hannah Frohling and senior Blossom Sato: Frohling leads the team in kills with 281, and is No. 3 in the WCC in aces per set (0.42), while Sato is 34th in the country in aces per set (10.91) and third in the WCC in total aces (949).