GONZAGA BULLDOGS
(10-18, 7-10 WCC)
 
Day: Tuesday
Date: Nov. 20, 2018
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Facility: The Chiles Center
Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. GONZ
Overall Series: 23-47
H: 13-19 •  A: 11-24  •  N: 0-0
Last: POR 3, @GON 0 (10/20/2018)

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots host Gonzaga this week, playing the Bulldogs at 7:00 PM on Tuesday.
• The Pilots will celebrate Senior Night before tip-off, honoring Reghan Pukis and Lauren Naatz with a pre-game ceremony.
• Live video for this weekend's match-ups can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots went on their last WCC road trip of the 2018 season, falling to Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.
• The Pilots lost in Los Angeles in three sets, and fell to Pepperdine in a match being hosted on UCLA's campus: Pepperdine's campus has been shut down till Thanksgiving, due to the Woosley Fire in the Malibu area.
• Sophomore Izzy Guzik led the Pilots in kills with 23, while junior Cali Thompson continued to effectively pass the ball with 67 assists.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• First-year head coach Jeff Baxter has 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.
• 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.
• Within the WCC, the Pilots are No. 2 in team digs (1,528), and No. 3 in team assists (1,302), team kills (1,372), and team service aces (164).
• 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 .351, No. 4 in block assists (106) and No. 8 in blocks per set with 1.09.
• Sophomore Libero Carey Williams has had an impressive 2018 season as well, ranking No. 1 in the WCC in total digs (451) and second in digs per set (4.33).
• 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) in week 12.
• 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 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 10-18 (7-10) on the season so far, coming off loss against Pepperdine and a win against Loyola Marymount.
• The Bulldogs were selected to place fifth in the WCC according to the 2018 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Within the WCC, they're No. 2 in team total blocks (231)
• They're led by sophomore Sarah Penner and senior Tiyana Hallums: Penner leads the team in kills (300) and points (342), while Hallums is No. No. 2 in the WCC in total digs (439).