SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – An exhilarating five-set match in San Francisco leads to the Portland Pilots second straight win, defeating the San Francisco Dons on Saturday afternoon at the War Memorial Gym. The Pilots took it with set scores of 25-27, 26-24, 25-16, 25-23, and 15-8.

"I think we showed a lot of grit", head coach Jeff Baxter said post-match. "The team consistently gave their best effort, even when things weren't going our way. (I'm just) proud of our team."

The Pilots were led by junior Katie Barker's career-high 20 kills on a .515 hitting percentage, who added three total blocks and two service aces along the way. The Pilots had five different players obtain 10 digs, with sophomore Izzy (16 kills, 11 digs) Guzik and junior Cali Thompson (61 assists, 12 digs) both having double-doubles.  

The first set consisted of a set of runs, as the Pilots (18-7, 6-7) and Dons (8-17, 1-13 WCC) would exchange multiple 3-0 runs as they fought for the lead. The Pilots would finally tie the match on a 3-0 run capped by a service ace by senior Lauren Naatz to make the score 23-23. As the Dons fought off the Pilot comeback, Guzik had two back to back kills to keep the Pilots effort alive, but USF's freshman Emily Zinger ended the first set with two straight kills at 27-25 to put the Dons up 1-0.

San Francisco began the second set much like the first, obtaining the early lead and maintaining their momentum until late in the set. The Pilots would then go on an impressive 8-1 run, led by two kills and a block by Guzik. The Dons responded with a 7-3 run of their own to cut the Pilots lead to 20-18. Seeking to put a halt on the Dons comeback, Barker and Guzik teamed up and claimed the Pilot's last six points to even up the match, and eventually win the second set at 26-24.

Taking the early lead in the third set and extending the gap to 12-6, Portland forced the Dons to take an early timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Pilots continued to dominate the set with a 4-1 run which forced the Dons to take their last time out. The Pilots cruised on to win the third set, taking it at 25-16.

Refusing to go out without a fight on their team's Senior Day, the Dons erupted with a 8-0 run early to take the lead in the fourth set, later extending their lead to 12-6. Keeping the Pilots competitive, Barker recorded seven kills and two blocks throughout the fourth set, including a kill that gave her team the lead late at 23-22. The Dons overcame the Pilot's attempt to comeback to steal the set, finishing a 3-0 run and taking the fourth set at 25-23.

Wishing to fly home undefeated on the weekend, senior Reghan Pukis shined in the fifth set producing four of her 13 kills during the final set, leading the Pilots to a match victory with a final set score of 15-8.

The Pilots return to the Chiles Center next weekend, hosting Saint Mary's (16-6, 8-4) on Thursday night at 7:00 PM, followed by Pacific (10-14, 5-8) on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 PM.