Portland Pilots (3-6, 0-0 WCC)
at WCC Mid Season Invitational
 
WCC Mid Season Invitational
Day: Friday and Saturday
Date: Mar. 25-26, 2022
Place: Santa Cruz, Calif.
Facility: Santa Cruz Beach
 
No. 5 Loyola Marymount Lions (14-1, 0-0 WCC)
Day: Friday
Date: Mar. 25, 2022
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Place: Santa Cruz, Calif.
Facility: Santa Cruz Beach
Last: POR 0, LMU 5 (3.29.19)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots open conference play at the WCC Invitational in Santa Cruz, Calif.
• Portland is set to take on fifth-ranked LMU first on Friday, March 25 at 9 a.m. at Santa Cruz Beach.
• Live stats and live video will not be available for any of the matches.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, March 25, 2022
Pool 1
9:00 a.m. POR vs. LMU (Match #1)
11:00 a.m. SCU vs. UOP (Match #2)
1:00 p.m. Winner of Match #1 vs. Winner of Match #2 (Gold Bracket)
3:00 p.m. Loser of Match #1 vs. Loser of Match #2 (Silver Bracket)
 
Pool 2
10:00 a.m. PEP vs. SJSU (Match #3)
12:00 p.m. SMC vs. USF (Match #4)
2:00 p.m. Winner of Match #3 vs. Winner Match #4 (Gold Bracket)
4:00 p.m. Loser of Match #3 vs. Loser of Match #4 (Silver Bracket)
 
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Gold Bracket
9:00 a.m. #1 Seed from Pool 1 vs. #2 Seed from Pool 2 (Match #5)
10:00 a.m. #1 Seed from Pool 2 vs #2 Seed from Pool 2 (Match #6)
1:00 p.m. 3rd/4th Place Match (Loser Match #5 vs Loser Match #6)
2:00 p.m. 1st/2nd Place Match (Winner Match #5 vs Winner Match #6)
 
Silver Bracket
11:00 a.m. #3 Seed from Pool 1 vs #4 Seed from Pool 2 (Match #7)
12:00 p.m. #3 Seed from Pool 2 vs #4 Seed from Pool 1 (Match #8)
3:00 p.m. 7th/8th Place Match (Loser Match #7 vs Loser Match #8)
4:00 p.m. 5th/6th Place Match (Winner Match #7 vs Winner Match #8)
 
LAST MATCHES
• Portland went 2-2 at the Northwest Invitational held at Corban on March 11-12, registering two 5-0 sweeps against Bushnell.
• Oregon outlasted the Pilots 4-1 in Eugene on March 8, with 2s pair Noelani Helm and Charity Bradley collecting a three set win with scores of 16-21, 21-16, and 15-11.
 
THIS SEASON
• The Pilots split a pair of beach volleyball matches with the NAIA's eighth-ranked Corban Warriors on March 3, defeating the hosts 4-1 after the Warriors came out on top by the same margin in game one.
• The Portland 2s of Noelani Helm and Sophie Lee claimed the team's sole win in the day's first match with set scores of 21-13 and 21-12.
• Helm and Charity Bradley started off game two with a sweep against the Warriors' duo of Nicole Bantilan and Maya Blake, securing the match with set scores of 21-15 and 21-16.
• Pilots pairs Grace Zilbert and Sarah Strong at the 1s, Sophie Lee and Taylor Helle at the 3s, and Milenia Sniffen and Kendall Nolan at the 5s all dug out 2-1 wins against their Corban counterparts on the way to the team's first victory of the year.
• (RV) Washington outlasted Portland 5-0 and 4-1 in both programs' season-opening matches in Tacoma on February 26.
• The Pilots 3s of Charity Bradley and Taylor Helle claimed a sweep against a pair of Huskies in the second game of the doubleheader with set scores of 21-17 and 21-6.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Megan Burton steps into her first year as the head coach of the Pilots beach volleyball program, with Dylan Hamilton also returning for the 2022 season.
• The Pilots return six from last year's roster in Bugarin, Harris, Helm, Lee, Nolan, and Zilbert, with Sarah Strong also coming back to compete in her final season with the team.
• The beach volleyball program welcomes a class of three to the squad this spring in freshmen Taylor Helle, Mileina Sniffen and Annika Stammberger.
• Portland added two transfers to the program at the most recent semester break: freshman Lia Hawken out of Dayton, and graduate student Talyn Jackson from Virginia Tech.
• Also joining the beach team from the Pilots' 2021 indoor squad are freshmen Keilani Mumolo and Emma Swett, and graduate Charity Bradley.
• The Pilots graduated three WCC All-Academic honorees at the end of last season, including the team's most dominant duo of Shayla Hoeft and Alycia Wodke, and Kellie Hughes.
 
LAST SEASON
• Portland finished the year 1-9 in duals competition, defeating Corban 3-2 in Salem on April 13th, 2021. The Pilots' pairs of Hoeft/Wodke, Harris/Helm, and Hughes/Nolan each collected wins on the day.
• The team of Harris/Zilbert registered a sweep against WCC foe San Francisco with set scores of 21-16 and 21-18 back on April 30th, 2021.
• The Pilots faced tough Pac-12 opponents in Oregon and Washington, and saw matchups with 15th-ranked Hawai'i and 13th-ranked Pepperdine before the end of the year.