Portland Pilots (5-14, 2-8 WCC)
at Saint Mary's and Pacific
Saint Mary's Gaels (11-8, 5-5 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Oct. 28, 2021
Place: Moraga, Calif.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Facility: University Credit Union Pavilion
Stats: portlandpilots.com
Video: portlandpilots.com
POR vs. SMC
Overall Series: 26-47
H: 15-21 •
A: 11-26 •
N: 0-0
Last: SMC 3, @POR 2 (10.2.21)
Pacific Tigers (8-13, 5-5 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Oct. 30, 2021
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Facility: Alex G. Spano Center
Stats: portlandpilots.com
Video: portlandpilots.com
POR vs. UOP
Overall Series: 3-14
H: 2-6 •
A: 1-7 •
N: 0-1
Last: UOP 3, @POR 0 (9.30.21)
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots head to California for two West Coast Conference contests, seeing Saint Mary's and Pacific for the second time this season.
• Portland will first stop in Moraga for a matchup with the Gaels on Thursday, October 28th at 7 p.m.
• The Pilots then have a day off before facing the Tigers on Saturday, October 30th at 12 p.m.
• Live stats and live video for both matches will be provided at PortlandPilots.com.
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots were outlasted in a pair of home matches, stealing a set against LMU before the Lions prevailed 3-1 this past Thursday, and being topped by a 3-0 margin against the 25th-ranked Pepperdine Waves on Saturday.
• Jayde Harris registered a career-high 19 kills against Loyola Marymount, putting her at 200 kills on the year--a new single-season record for the outside hitter.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Megan Burton enters her second year as the head coach of the Pilots volleyball program, with assistant coaches Aven Lee and Dylan Hamilton also returning for the 2021 season.
• The Pilots also bring back seven letter winners from the spring 2021 West Coast Conference season.
• The program welcomes four true freshmen to The Bluff this fall in Alyssa Muraoka, Gabby Quach, Emma Swett, and Keilani Mumolo.
• Portland has also added graduate transfer Charity Bradley out of Washington State to their roster ahead of fall competition.
• The Pilots saw three significant contributors graduate at the end of last year in setter Kellie Hughes, All-WCC outside hitter Liz Reich, and second-place all-time career digs leader Carey Williams.
• Outside hitter Jayde Harris has been the team's most productive scorer this season, leading the Pilots with 200 total kills while averaging 2.94 per set.
• Through 19 matches the team has produced averages of 10.19 kills per set, 9.37 assists per set, and 11.35 digs per set.
• Noelani Helm leads the Pilots in assists with 326, a new single-season record, and is third on the team in kills with 92.
• Junior libero Grace Zibert is Portland's team leader in digs, with 185 this fall.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• Saint Mary's is coming off of a two-win week, sweeping San Francisco this past Thursday and defeating Santa Clara in five sets on Saturday.
• Jennifer Laird currently has the third-highest hitting percentage in the West Coast Conference at .363, and ranks fifth in the league in blocks per set, averaging 1.08.
• Chandler Cowell leads the Gaels in kills this year with 156, Ella Sandt leads in assists with 341, and Kelsey Knudsen has collected the most digs of any SMC player with 193.
• As a team, the Gaels are currently third in the WCC in both service aces (61) and block solos (19).
• Pacific enters the week having split their last pair of matches, losing 1-3 at Santa Clara on Thursday before bouncing back to sweep San Francisco on Saturday.
• Jadyn Tubbs sits first in the WCC individual leaderboard in both digs (344) and digs per set this fall, averaging 4.35 for her team.
• Alexa Edwards has produced 295 kills to lead the Tigers' offense this season, and ranks third in the WCC in both total attacks and kills per set at 3.73.
• Jenna Heller has provided the majority of Pacific's assists in 2021, accumulating 445 on the year.
• As a program, the Tigers lead the conference this season in both digs per set (13.70) and block solos (27).
