PORTLAND PILOTS (8-5, 1-1 WCC)
Portland Pilots vs. Loyola Marymount Lions

Loyola Marymount Lions
(5-6, 0-2 WCC)
Day: Tuesday                  
Date: Sept. 27, 2022
Place: Los Angeles, Calif.           
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Facility: Gersten Pavilion           
Video: WCCSports.com
Stats: portlandpilots.com

POR vs. LMU   
Overall Series: 10-61          
Last: POR 0 - @LMU 3 (2021)

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots continue WCC play this week with three matches against LMU, BYU and San Diego. The first match will be an away match on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., the next two matches will be hosted by the Pilots on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
• Live stats for each of the matches can be found at Portlandpilots.com, and live video for all matches will be available on WCCSports.com.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Megan Burton enters her third year as the head coach of the Pilots volleyball program, with assistant coaches Dylan Hamilton also returning for the 2022 season. Additionally, the Pilots welcome Kyle Homeyer as a new assistant coach for the 2022 season after serving as a volunteer coach in 2021.
• The Pilots also bring back six letter winners from the fall 2021 season.
• The program welcomes seven true freshmen to The Bluff this fall in Maui Robins, Elin Larsson, Jordan Bardouche, Marleena Catalan, Lucia Busso, Larkin Chock, and Una Rajkovic.
• Portland has also added three transfer students to their roster, including setter Talyn Jackson out of Virginia Tech, middle blocker Griselda Memia from American University and outside hitter Lia Hawken from Dayton University.
• Portland will be looking for leadership from returner Jayde Harris, as well as their transfers to create an exciting and dynamic offense this season. Harris led the team with 261 kills in 2021, which earned her all-WCC honors.
• The Pilots defeated Pacific for the first time since 2019, putting their overall record to 8-5, and their conference record to 1-1.
• Jayde Harris was named WCC Offensive Player of the Week for her .361 attack percentage and combined 45 kills over her last two games. She was the first Pilot to win WCC Player of the Week since 2018.
• Pilots fell to Saint Mary's in their first conference game of the season after a  hard-fought five-set match against Saint Mary's.
• Prior to the WCC opener, the Pilots won the Portland North Marriott Invitational.
• This was the Pilot's second tournament win this season, making it the first time since 2018 that Portland has won more than one tournament in a season.
• Jayde Harris was named tournament MVP of the Portland North Marriott Invitational. Noelani Helm and Grace Zilbert were also named to the all-tourament team.
• Jayde Harris was an all-tournament selectee for the Oregon State Invitational.
• The Pilots also competed in the Denver Invitational, where they finished with two wins and one loss.
• Prior to that, the Pilots competed in the Sacramento State Invitational, where they ultimately won the tournament overall. This was their first tournament win since 2019, earning three athletes all-tournament honors.
• This included Noelani Helm (MVP), Maui Robins, and Jayde Harris.
• The Pilots lead the WCC in aces per set (1.90), while also being ranked third in digs per set (13.62), fourth in team assists (681), first in team digs (623), fourth in team kills (598), second in team service aces (95), fourth in team total attacks (1,674), and fourth in team blocks (99.5).
• Noelani Helm is also the overall leader nationally and within the WCC for triple-doubles, sitting at four so far this season.
• Jayde Harris sits at third in the conference in attacks per set (10.22), second in points per set (4.53), third in total points (208.5) and fourth in kills per set (3.89) and third in total kills (179).
• Grace Zilbert is also ranked fourth overall in the conference for digs per set (3.94) and third overall in total digs (185).

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• Loyola Marymount currently has an overall record of 5-6.
• Their team is led offensively by sophomore, Kari Geissberger who has 122 kills. She is followed by sophomore, Audrey Klemp who has 88 kills so far this season.
• Defensively, the Lions are led by sophomore Sam Hastings who has 111 digs, as well as by Phoebe Awoleye who has 52 blocks.
• Loyola Marymount has played a tough schedule, facing six ranked teams so far this season. In their match against No. 22 UCLA, the Lions defeated the Bruins 3-0.
• The Lions are ranked first in the conference for blocks per set (2.71), as well as third in team total blocks (108.5).