DENVER, Colo. -- The Portland volleyball team racked up 11 blocks in a three-set (21-25, 15-25, 19-25) loss to the Denver Pioneers Thursday on the road at Hamilton Gymnasium in the opening match of the Denver Invitational. The Pilots dropped their first match of the season to fall to 3-1 overall. The Pioneers improved to 1-3 with the victory

Jayde Harris finished with nine kills on the day to lead the Pilots attack. Defensively, two players reach double figures in digs as Grace Zilbert had 10 and Noelani Helm had 10. From the front row, Una Rajkovic contributed seven blocks.

Game Notes
» Una Rajkovic had a team-high seven blocks.
» The Portland front row did a great job defensively, picking up 11 blocks in the match.
» Jayde Harris had a team-high nine kills for Portland.
» Portland got a team-high 10 digs from Grace Zilbert.
» Portland attackers were helped by a team-high 14 assists from Noelani Helm.
» Marleena Catalan earned the lone service ace in the loss.

How It Happened

SET 1 | The Pilots came up short in a back-and-forth first set, losing 25-21 in a game that featured eight lead changes and was tied 13 times. Neither team led by more than four points in the set.

SET 2 | Portland fell in set two 25-15, digging a 2-0 deficit in the match. The Pilots lost the first point and fought from behind the rest of the way before dropping the set.

SET 3 | Portland couldn't prolong the match and lost in set number three. The Pilots fell behind on the first point and never took the lead before losing the set 25-19.

Up Next
Portland will play two more matches as part of the Denver Invitational. The Pilots face Hofstra on Friday at 3 p.m. (PT) and then conclude the event Saturday versus Butler at 10 a.m. (PT). Both matches will have live stats and video streaming links at PortlandPilots.com.