UNIVERSITY OF LAS VEGAS
(21-11, 10-8 MWC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Dec. 6, 2018
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Facility: Chiles Center
Video: www.PortlandPilots.com
Stats: www.PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. UNLV
Overall Series: 1-1
H: 1-0 •
A: 0-1 •
N: 0-0
Last: POR 0, @UNLV 3 (8/31/2013)
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots continue postseason play for the first time in program history, competing in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Volleyball Challenge.
• They host UNLV this week, the first volleyball postseason match in Pilot history on The Bluff, which will be played on December 6th, 7:00 PM.
• Live video and stats for this weekend's match-ups can be found at wwwPortlandPilots.com.
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots won their first two postseason matches in program history, sweeping the Northern Colorado Bears and outlasting the Utah Valley Wolverines in a five-set thriller.
• Their 20th victory of the 2018 campaign marks the most in a single season in team history. The record was previously held by the 1986 Pilots with 19 wins and was the first year the program was a Division 1 team.
• Senior Reghan Pukis and sophomore Liz Reich led the Pilots in their battle against Utah Valley: Pukis led the match in kills with 18, while Reich had her best performance as a Pilot, posting a career high in kills (16), points (21.5) and total blocks (8). Junior Cali Thompson once again led the Pilots in assists over the week with 96, while junior Katie Barker had 21 kills and 15 total blocks in the first two rounds of the NIVC.
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 against Utah Valley on Nov. 30th was their 20th of the year, securing their highest win total during a season since 1986, the previous high being 19 during our first season as a D-1 program.
• Within the WCC, the Pilots are No. 1 in team digs (1,709), No. 2 in team assists (1,472), team total blocks (244) and team kills (1,550), and No. 3 in team service aces (185).
• Junior Katie Barker has had a remarkable 2018 campaign: she's now No. 1 in single season history in block assists (124), and she's on path this season to be No. 2 in hitting percentage with .342, No. 5 in total blocks with 139 and No. 5 in blocks per set with 1.16.
• Barker's impressive season hasn't gone unnoticed: on November 26th, she was nominated to the 2018 WCC Honorable Mention squad for the first time.
• Junior Cali Thompson continues to climb the record books, now ranking fourth all-time in UP program history with 3,618 career assists, passing Megan Staropoli (1984-86, 3,359 assists) in week 12. Thompson's 1,286 assist this season ranks No. 3 on Portland's all-time single-season list: in her three seasons on The Bluff, she's placed in the top eight of most assists in a single season every time.
• Sophomore Libero Carey Williams has had an impressive 2018 season as well, ranking No. 1 in the WCC in total digs (511) and is currently No. 5 in digs in a single season.
• Senior Reghan Pukis is No. 8 all-time at Portland in career kills per set (3.15).
• 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 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.
• 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 at USC.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• UNLV (21-11, 10-8 MWC) swept UC Irvine and won a a five-set match against Fresno State to advance to the quarterfinals of the NIVC.
• The Runnin' Rebels finished the regular season fifth in the Mountain West Conference, and rank first in the nation in service aces with 231.
• They are led by sophomore Mariena Hayden, who leads the team in kills with 515. Her 101 service aces put her No. 1 in the country, and make Hayden only the third player to reach triple digits in NCAA Division I since the 25-point scoring format was adopted in 2008.
