Portland Pilots (5-16, 2-10 WCC)
vs. #20 San Diego and #6 BYU
 
#20 San Diego Toreros (16-4, 10-1 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Nov. 4, 2021
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Facility: Chiles Center
Stats: portlandpilots.com
Video: portlandpilots.com
 
POR vs. USD
Overall Series: 9-60
H: 6-27 • A: 3-33 • N: 0-0
Last: POR 0, @USD 3 (10.9.21)
 
#6 BYU Cougars (21-1, 11-0 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 6, 2021
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Facility: Chiles Center
Stats: portlandpilots.com
Video: portlandpilots.com
 
POR vs. BYU
Overall Series: 1-20
H: 1-10 •  A: 0-10  •  N: 0-0
Last: POR 0, @BYU 3 (10.7.21)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots host their final two West Coast Conference contests of the 2021 season, welcoming two Top-25 ranked opponents to the Chiles Center.
• Portland faces off with the No. 20 San Diego Toreros on Thursday evening at 6 p.m., which will also be the program's CYO Night.
• The Pilots will then see the No. 6 BYU Cougars on Saturday at noon in a senior send-off for this year's lone gradate, Claire Forrest, including an Airpods raffle for UP students.
• Live stats and live video for both matches will be provided at PortlandPilots.com.
 
FREE ADMISSION WITH PROOF OF VACCINATION FOR COVID-19
• UP athletics is not charging admission for home volleyball contests this fall, and entry into the Chiles Center is only permissible by showing any of the following: University ID, CDC-issued (or photo of) COVID-19 vaccination card, or documentation of a lab-based COVID-19 PCR test with a negative result taken within 72 hours of the event.
• Masks are required for all spectators ages 5 and over during the match, unless actively eating or drinking.
• Visit PortlandPilots.com for more information on UP athletics vaccination requirements.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots were outlasted in a pair of road matches, stealing a set against Saint Mary's before the Gaels prevailed 3-1 this past Thursday, and being topped by a 3-0 margin against Pacific on Saturday.
• Sophomore Jiana Lawson produced a solid all-around performance against SMC, converting seven scores on 17 attempts for a .353 attack rate on the night, while also adding five aces, five digs, and 10 block assists against the Gaels.
• Noelani Helm finished with a double-double of 23 assists and 11 digs, and Jayde Harris tied for a match-high 16 kills in the game at SMC.
 
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 224 total kills--a new single season record for the outside hitter--while averaging just under three per set.
• Through 21 matches the team has produced averages of 10.07 kills per set, 9.25 assists per set, and 11.55 digs per set.
• Noelani Helm leads the Pilots in assists with 362, a new single-season record, and is third on the team in kills (98), digs (122), and total blocks (22).
• Junior libero Grace Zibert is Portland's team leader in digs, amassing 205 this fall.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• 20th-ranked San Diego is coming off of a two-sweep week, defeating Santa Clara this past Thursday and topping San Francisco on Saturday.
• USD's Leyla Blackwell is the West Coast Conference individual leader in blocks per set this season at 1.51, good for third-place in the NCAA.
• Grace Frohling leads the Toreros in both kills (266) and service aces (24) this 2021 campaign, while Katie Lukes is currently fourth in the WCC in kills per set, averaging 3.67.
• Annie Benbow sits first on San Diego in digs with 297 on the year, good for fourth in the WCC, and ranks third in the league in digs per set, producing an average of 4.07.
• Isadora Tercariol has dished out the most assists of any USD player this year with 595.
• As a team, the Toreros are currently first in the WCC in blocks per set (2.19), for the fourth best team average in the NCAA, and maintain the second-best team hitting percentage at .272 during the conference season.
• 6th-ranked BYU also collected sweeps against San Francisco and Santa Clara this past week, and have dropped just two sets total during the WCC season.
• BYU's Heather Gneiting has accumulated the highest hitting percentage in the conference this year at .459--fourth-best in the NCAA--and Kennedy Eschenberg is second in the league at .409, good for 18th individually in NCAA. Kenzie Koerber sits fourth in the league at .370, and leads the Cougars in attacks with 247.
• Eschenberg also ranks second in the conference in blocks per set with 1.32, leading BYU in total blocks this fall with 94.
• Whitney Bower has provided the majority of BYU's assists in 2021, totaling 753, while averaging 10.61--good for second in the WCC in the category.
• As a program, the Cougars lead the NCAA this season in team hitting percentage (.344), also leading the WCC kills per set (14.46), assists per set (13.17), and blocks per set (2.41).