PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots lost in four sets at the Chiles Center on Thursday night, losing a tight match throughout against the Loyola Marymount Lions. Portland fell in four sets, with set scores of 25-18, 16-25, 26-28 and 21-25.

"We competed hard against a very tough LMU squad," said assistant coach Dylan Hamilton. "Our team did a nice job of executing from the baseline, and we're excited to get back to work tomorrow morning to prepare for Pepperdine."

Senior Shayla Hoeft had 13 kills to lead the Pilots offensively, with junior Liz Reich & sophomore Claire Forrest contributing 11 kills each. Junior Carey Williams recorded 21 digs, and freshman Grace Zilbert grabbing three service aces & five digs.

The first set began with both teams battling for the lead, as Loyola Marymount (13-10, WCC 7-4) couldn't pull away from the Pilots (11-10, WCC 3-7). Portland was the first too breakthrough, going from being down 4-5 to being up 16-7 thanks to a 12-2 run. The Lions would close the gap to a four point deficit, but a service ace from senior Katie Barker would finish the first, Portland taking it at 25-18.

Loyola Marymount, down 0-1 in set scores, went on their own extended run early in the second set: with the Pilots up 7-6 thanks to a kill from Hoeft, a 12-3 Lion run would push their lead 19-9. LMU never looked back, taking the second at 25-16.

With the set score tied up at 1-1, both teams would battle for the match's momentum till the end. A close set throughout, neither squad gained a three-point lead the entire third set. Portland, down 18-19, would make their move thanks to two kills and a solo block from Hoeft to take the lead at 22-19. Not to be out done, LMU went on a 4-1 run to make it match point at 24-23. Reich single handedly kept the Pilots in the third late, recording three consecutive kills to keep tying the third set. Lions senior Savannah Slattery would go on to close the third, striking twice in a row with two kills to take the third set for LMU at 28-26.

Riding their momentum, LMU would gain distance first at 14-10, thanks to one of Slattery's 25 kills. Portland would continue to keep it close, eventually taking a late lead at 19-18 thanks to a service error across the net. The Lions ultimately held on, with two more kills from Slattery finishing the fourth set at 25-21 LMU.

Portland finishes their weekend hosting the Pepperdine Waves this Saturday, Nov. 2^nd at the Chiles Center at noon.