PORTLAND PILOTS (6-0, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 3: The Outrigger Volleyball Challenge
 
SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS
(1-5, 0-0 MWC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Sep. 6, 2018
Place: Honolulu, HI.
Time: 7:45 PM
Facility: Stan Sheriff Center
Video: N/A
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. SDSU
Overall Series: 1-1
H: 0-0 •  A: 1-1  •  N: 0-0
Last: POR 3, SDSU 1 (08.25.18 @ SDSU)
 
HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE
(2-2, 0-0 Big West)
Day: Friday
Date: Sep. 7, 2018
Place: Honolulu, HI.  
Time: 10:00 PM
Facility: Stan Sheriff Center
Video: hawaiiathletics.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. UH
Overall Series: 0-0
H: 0-0 •  A: 0-0  •  N: 0-0
Last: N/A
 
IDAHO VANDALS
(4-2, 0-0 Big Sky)
Day: Saturday
Date: Sept. 8, 2018
Place: Honolulu. Hawai'i
Time: 6:00 PM
Facility: Stan Sheriff Center
Video: N/A
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. UI
Overall Series: 4-14
H: 2-2 •  A: 1-5  •  N: 1-7
Last: POR 3, IDHO 0 (09.12.15 @ POR)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots fly west for the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge and take on San Diego State, Hawai'i and Idaho this weekend.
• Portland will first play San Diego State on Thursday at 7:45 p.m. (Pacific), Hawai'i on Friday at 10:00 p.m., and will finish the tournament against Idaho at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.
• Live stats and video for the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge can be found on Hawaiiathletics.com
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots remained undefeated, now 6-0 on the young season, as they swept the competition at the North Portland Marriott Invite.
• Portland defeated Wyoming, Montana State and LIU Brooklyn to claim the North Portland Marriott Invite championship.
• Head coach Jeff Baxter has led the Pilots to their best start in program history, going 6-0 to start the season.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Reghan Pukis won the Most Valuable Player award last weekend thanks to her impressive stat line: she led the Pilots in kills (51), kills per set (3.73), and points per set (4.375).
• Pukis, along with juniors Cali Thompson and Shayla Hoeft, were selected to the North Portland Marriott Invite All-Tournament Team.
• Thompson led the Pilots with 152 assists, while Hoeft had 34 kills, 38.5 points and eight blocks. 
• The Pilots had numerous contributions on their way to win the Invite: sophomore Izzy Guzik had 31 kills and 38 digs, sophomore Liz Reich had 32 kills and 16 blocks, and redshirt-junior Katie Barker had 28 kills, 18 blocks and nine digs. 
• The Pilots were led defensively by sophomores Carey Williams and McKenzie Schwan: Williams had 59 digs, while Schwan had 28 coming off the bench.
• Head Coach Jeff Baxter was delighted with how the Pilots performed at the North Portland Marriot Invite, saying "(i'm) proud of how our team battled some great teams this weekend." 
• The Pilots second straight undefeated weekend kept them in the upper echelon of the WCC, now tied for first place in the conference rankings.
• 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. With 280 assists so far, she is only 24 assists away from moving up to fifth all-time.
• 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
• San Diego State is seeking to regain momentum, currently 1-5 on the season. One of those losses was against the Pilots this year, where the Pilots won 3-1 on August 25th at the Aztec Court.
• Hosting the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge, Hawai'i is 2-2 on the season so far. They're coming off two straight sweeps, and were led by 2017 All-Big West First Team McKenna Granato's 29 kills.
• This will be the first meeting all-time between the Pilots and the Rainbow Wahine
• The Idaho Vandals have had a strong start to the season, going into the tournament with a 4-2 record. They've been led by Kaela Straw, who was nominated Big Sky Player of the Week in week 1, leading the conference in hitting percentage (.420) and kills per set (4.46).