Portland Pilots (4-9, 1-3 WCC)
at #9 BYU and #25 San Diego
 
#9 BYU Cougars (14-1, 4-0 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Oct. 7, 2021
Place: Provo, Utah
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Facility: Smith Fieldhouse
Stats: portlandpilots.com
Video: portlandpilots.com
 
POR vs. BYU
Overall Series: 1-19
H: 1-10 •  A: 0-9  •  N: 0-0
Last: BYU 3, @POR 0 (1.27.21)
 
#25 San Diego Toreros (10-3, 4-0 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Oct. 9, 2021
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Facility: Jenny Craig Pavilion
Stats: portlandpilots.com
Video: portlandpilots.com
 
POR vs. USD
Overall Series: 9-59
H: 6-27 • A: 3-32 • N: 0-0
Last: POR 0, @USD 3 (2.11.21)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots hit the road for two West Coast Conference matches against ranked opponents.
• Portland will first stop in Provo, Utah for a meeting with the 9th-ranked BYU Cougars on Thursday, October 7 at 6:00pm (PT).
• The Pilots will then head to San Diego for a toss-up with the 25th-ranked Toreros on Saturday, October 9 at 12:00pm.
• Live stats and live video for both matches will be available at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots came back from a deficit twice to force five sets against Saint Mary's this past Saturday, although the Gaels just escaped with a 3-2 win on the day.
• Jayde Harris collected a match-high 12 kills against Pacific, but the Tigers overcame the Pilots 3-0 at the Chiles Center back on Thursday, September 30.
 
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 two graduate students to their roster, including outside hitter Charity Bradley out of Washington State and setter Paloma Bowman from UC Davis.
• 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.
• Portland will look to outside hitter Jayde Harris to provide the attack this season, and she has been the team's most productive scorer so far, leading the team with 136 kills while averaging 3.02 per set.
• Through 13 matches so far, the team has produced averages of 10.84 kills per set, 10.00 assists per set, and 11.91 digs per set.
• Noelani Helm leads the Pilots in assists with 214, and is second on the team in kills with 69.
• Grace Zibert is Portland's team leader in digs, with 133 to her credit.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• No. 9 BYU enters the week with a near perfect record, their lone loss of the year coming at No. 2 Pittsburg back on September 10.
• Heather Gneiting leads the conference with her .466 hitting percentage this season, and currently sits third in the NCAA in the category. She is second on the team in total kills (107) to Kenzie Koerber's 164.
• Kennedy Eschenberg holds the third-best hitting percentage in the WCC at .382, and is second in the conference in blocks per set, averaging 1.33. The middle blocker leads BYU in total blocks with 64.
• Whitney Bower has accumulated 498 assists already this fall, and is third in the conference in assists per set, generating 10.38.
• No. 25 San Diego is undefeated in league play, and sits second in WCC standings only to BYU. The Toreros have dropped just one set so far in the conference season, coming from Santa Clara this past Saturday.
• Leyla Blackwell leads the West Coast Conference in blocks per set with 1.56, good for eighth place in the NCAA. She is USD's team-leader in total blocks with 75.
• Annie Benbow ranks third in the conference in both digs (194) and digs per set (4.04).
• Grace Frohling leads San Diego in kills with 167, and Katie Lukes is second on the team with 122.
• Isadora Tercariol has produced the majority of USD's assists with 385, dishing out over nine per set.