PORTLAND PILOTS (3-0, 0-0 WCC)
Week 2: North Portland Marriott Invite
 
MONTANA STATE BOBCATS
 (2-1, 0-0 Big Sky)
Day: Thursday
Date: Aug. 30, 2018
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Facility: Chiles Center
Video: TheW.tv.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. MSU
Overall Series: 2-4
H: 0-0  •  A: 1-3  •  N: 1-1
Last: POR 3, MSU 0 (08.28.09 at WSU)
 
WYOMING COWGIRLS
(3-0, 0-0 MWC)
Day: Friday
Date: Aug. 31, 2018
Place: Portland, Ore.  
Time: 5:00 PM
Facility: Chiles Center
Video: TheWtv.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. WYO
Overall Series: 2-2
H: 2-0  •  A: 0-2  •  N: 0-0
Last: @WYO 3, POR 1 (09.10.10)
 
LIU BROOKLYN
(1-2, 0-0 NEC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Sept. 1, 2018
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 12:00 PM
Facility: Chiles Center
Video: TheW.tv.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. LIU
Overall Series: 0-0
H: 0-0  •  A: 0-0  •  N: 0-0
Last: N/A
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots are hosting Montana State, Wyoming and LIU Brooklyn in the North Portland Marriott Invite this weekend.
• Portland will first play Montana State on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., Wyoming on Friday at 5:00 p.m., and will finish the weekend against LIU Brooklyn at noon on Saturday.
• Live stats and video for the North Portland Marriott Invite can be found on PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots opened first-year head coach Jeff Baxter's career by going a perfect 3-0 last weekend to win the 2018 Aztec Invitational in San Diego.
• Portland swept CSU Bakersfield and Campbell before topping host San Diego State en route to the tourney title.
• Junior transfer Shayla Hoeft grabbed tournament MVP honors, and she became the first Pilot to win WCC Volleyball player of the week honors since 2016.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Shayla Hoeft won the Most Valuable Player award last weekend thanks to her impressive stat line: 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).
• Hoeft also nabbed WCC Player of the Week honors, becoming the first Pilot to earn that distinction since Hannah Troutman (Oct. 17, 2016).
• Junior Cali Thompson also had an impressive weekend, grabbing 128 assists, and along with Hoeft was placed on the 2018 Aztec Invitational All-Tournament Team.
• The Pilots did not operate solely through Hoeft and Thompson, however: senior Reghan Pukis and sophomore Izzy Guzik both had 31 kills each, sophomore Carey Williams had 34 digs, and junior Katie Barker had 10 blocks.
• The Pilots only lost one set all weekend, sweeping both CSU Bakersfield and Campbell, and beat San Diego State 3-1.
• Head Coach Jeff Baxter praised how his players reacted during his coaching debut this weekend, saying "(i'm) very proud of the way we played in a tough environment...i'm looking forward to coming back to a great week of practice."
• The Pilots weekend helped propel them to first place in the WCC, tied with Loyola Marymount (3-0).
• Portland was picked to finish eighth in the West Coast Conference in the preseason poll.
• The Pilots return three of the top four leaders in kills from a year ago, led by senior Reghan Pukis who totaled 367 kills as a junior.
• Junior setter Cali Thompson is also back after registering 1,174 assist last year, which ranks No. 5 on Portland's all-time single-season list; she enters the fall with 2,332 career assists, good for sixth on Portland's career charts.
• 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
• Montana State has started the season well, going 2-1 at the Cleveland State Tournament. They are hoping to improve on their 2017 campaign, where they were 10-15 overall and were selected to be eighth in their conference in a Big Sky Coaches poll.
• Like the Pilots, Wyoming is coming off a hot start, going 3-0 at the Rumble at the Rockies and earned AVCA Coach's Poll votes (36). They were selected to be second in their conference, and sophomore Cowgirl Jackie McBride is looking to build off being named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week.
• The Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn are coming off a rocky start to their season, going 1-2 at the UNLV Invitational, but were selected to three-peat and secure the North Eastern Conference Title in 2018.
• This will be the first meeting all-time between the Pilots and the Blackbirds.