PORTLAND PILOTS (11-9, 3-6 WCC)
WEEK 10: VS LMU, PEPPERDINE
 
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS
(12-10, 6-4 WCC)

Day: Thursday
Date: Oct. 31, 2019
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 P.M.
Facility: Chiles Center
Video: portlandpilots.com
Stats: portlandpilots.com

POR vs. LMU
Overall Series: 10-56
H: 8-25 • A: 2-32 • N: 0-2
Last: @LMU 3, POR 0 (10.55.19)

PEPPERDINE WAVES
(11-10, 7-3 WCC)

Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 2, 2019
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 12:00 P.M.
Facility: Chiles Center
Video: portlandpilots.com
Stats: portlandpilots.com

POR vs. PEPP
Overall Series: 6-59
H: 4-28 • A: 2-31 • N: 0-0
Last: @PEPP 3, POR 1 (10.3.19)

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots continue their streak of home matches, hosting the Loyola Marymount Lions and the Pepperdine Waves at the Chiles Center
• Portland will play LMU at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 31st, and finish their weekend against Pepperdine at noon on Saturday, November 2nd.
• Stats and Video for both matches can be found at portlandpilots.com
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots hosted a single match against Gonzaga, earning their first sweep of WCC play.
• Junior Liz Reich keeps building on her best year as a Pilot, racking up 15 kills & two digs in the match. Senior Katie Barker had 10 points (six kills, two blocks, two aces), and junior Kellie Hughes recorded 37 assists and six digs.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• This is Jeff Baxter's second season as head coach of the Pilots, coming off Portland's first 20-win season and postseason appearance in program history.
• Portland's ability to serve up aces has been huge to their early success: The Pilots rank 8th in the NCAA in aces per set (1.84), placing them first in the WCC.
• Freshman Grace Zilbert has a been the catalyst of the Pilots serving ability, ranking 6th in the WCC in aces (29). Nineteen matches into her collegiate career, she already has two five-ace matches.
• Junior Kellie Hughes has made significant strides this season, with Hughes ranking 66th in the country in assists (754). Within the West Coast Conference, Hughes ranks 1st in assists per set and total assists.
• In the WCC, the Pilots are 1st in team service aces (142) and are 2nd in digs per set (14.96). Individually, junior Carey Williams has led the way defensively, ranking 1st in the conference in digs per set (4.62) and 2nd in total digs (333).
• Three Pilots earned All-Tournament honors at the Springhill Suites Invitational, including MVP Senior Shayla Hoeft (40 kills, four blocks), Hughes (93 assists) and freshman Grace Zilbert (seven aces, 13 digs).
• For their efforts in the Portland North Marriott Invite, Hoeft and Williams were nominated to the All-Tournament Team. Hoeft had 43 kills, while Williams had 59 digs and 12 assists.
• The Pilots returned nine letterwinners from the 2018 season, including 2018 All-WCC Honorable Mention senior Katie Barker.
• The program welcomed three true freshmen to The Bluff this summer, as well two transfers from the University of Boise State and Seton Hall University, respectively.
• Sophomore transfers Jessie Brigham & Claire Forrest bring experience to the squad: Brigham led the BSU Broncos in digs in 2018 with 356, while Forrest notched two matches with 10 kills as a Pirate, including a career-high 11 kills against VCU.
• Portland's freshmen class is made up of Zilbert, Noelani Helm and Jayde Harris, all three contributing in 2019.
• To replace former assistant coaches Betsy Sedlak and Rick Moller departures from the program, Baxter brought in former University of Nevada assistant coach Megan Burton and former University of Washington player Justice Magraw.
• The Pilots saw two seniors graduate last spring in Reghan Pukis and Lauren Naatz.
• Portland was picked to finish sixth in the West Coast Conference Preseason Poll, jumping two spots from the 2018 poll.
• Senior middle blocker Katie Barker seeks to improve on her coming out party as a junior: she was nominated to the 2018 All-WCC Honorable Mention squad and had 128 block assists, 143 total blocks and a .334 hitting percentage, which were 1st, 2nd and 5th most in single season history for the Pilots, respectively.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
• Loyola Marymount (12-10, 6-4 WCC) is coming off a rough weekend, facing WCC powerhouses No. 11 BYU & San Diego. The Lions lost to both teams in four competitive sets.
• The Lions offense is led by senior Savannah Slattery, who ranks 3rd in the WCC in kills with 273.
• Pepperdine (11-10, 7-3 WCC) faced San Diego & No. 11 BYU as well, losing to the Cougars but being able to give the Toreros their first WCC loss of 2019 in a sweep in Malibu.
• The Waves are led by WCC VB Week Six Player of the Week junior Shannon Sculley. She's proven to be swizz-army knife for her squad, producing 264 kills & 263 digs.