PORTLAND, Ore.---The Pilots opened the West Coast Conference season with an exciting win after sweeping Gonzaga 3-0 in a volleyball match held at the Chiles Center on Saturday afternoon. Portland maintained control of the game from start to finish, sealing it with set scores of 25-20, 25-17, and 25-19.
 
The Pilots' juniors held it down on the floor as Jayde Harris collected a match-high 11 kills, Noelani Helm provided 13 assists, and Grace Zilbert picked up 12 digs for the Portland side. Helm and Zilbert also contributed two aces each, and sophomore Nevaeh Bray converted five of her six attacks to end with an impressive .667 hitting percentage on the day.
 
Gonzaga (4-8, 0-1 WCC) managed to open the game with a 3-1 lead in the first frame, but Portland (4-6, 1-0 WCC) stayed in it after a Harris kill leveled the set shortly after. The teams would trade points through the middle, until a 6-0 Portland run—including a service ace from Paloma Bowman—handed the home side a sizeable lead at 13-8. The Pilots would carry that cushion all the way to the end, and Harris connected on a dish from Bowman to grant the Pilots the first set point play. Sophomore middle blocker Chelsey Harmon came up with the finishing touch on the next rally to give Portland a 1-0 advantage heading into the second set.
 
The Bulldogs looked to come back in the match after gaining a three-point edge at the start of set two, but back-to-back kills from Jiana Lawson soon swung the score for the Pilots at 11-10. Lawson's hot hand kept the Pilots in front by two shortly following, but Gonzaga would turn the score back in their favor at 14-13. Moments later, a Bowman kill would spark a 9-1 Portland run—with two more Harris attacks and a clutch block from Harmon and Bray—which gave the Pilots all the momentum late down the wire. A Zilbert kill earned the team's first chance at set point, and Helm capitalized on the final score as the Pilots took a 2-0 lead overall going into the third installment.
 
Another Harris kill and a block from Harmon and Emma Swett pushed the Pilots in front 8-4 to begin set three, although GU was able to close that gap to two not a few minutes later. A Swett score would keep the Pilots ahead by three, but the Bulldogs put on some pressure to bring them within one at 12-11. That's when Harris added perhaps her most critical kill of the game to help Portland stay in front, and Helm's second ace on the very next play brought the Pilots' lead back to three. The Zags eventually found their way back in it however, only down by one at 17-16, and forced Portland to call timeout. But Bray executed next coming out of the break, and a Zilbert ace before another kill from Bray would give the home team all the energy they would need—using one more big time block to close out a thrilling game in just three sets.
 
"Super proud of this team, great way to start out conference with a 3-0 win over Gonzaga," said head coach Megan Burton. "It was amazing to be back at home and to have all the fans here in Chiles, thanks to everyone for showing up and making a great atmosphere to compete in."
 
"We did a lot of great things today," said Burton. "We've been focusing on serving and passing, and I thought we elevated our game and put Gonzaga in some stressful situations in serve receive. Today was a team effort, and everyone stepped up. Really proud of Nevaeh for coming out and hitting on the right today, and Jayde being a solid pin for us. Awesome job by our team, and excited to keep going!"
 
The Pilots hit road for their next WCC contest, set for a matchup in Malibu with the 23rd-ranked Pepperdine Waves on Tuesday, September 28. That game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.