LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Portland Pilots dropped their opening match of the UniWyo Invite, falling in four sets (23-25, 16-25, 26-24, 21-25) to the Idaho State Bengals on Thursday. The loss moves Portland to 5-4 on the season.

The Pilots were led offensively by Elin Larsson, who tallied a match-high 16 kills while hitting .364. Taina Kaauwai added 11 kills with a .296 hitting percentage. On defense, four different Pilots reached double figures in digs.

Game Notes
» Four Pilots recorded double-digit digs: Tinoa Woodward-Hart (13), Jeryn Hildenbrand (13), Maui Robins (12), and Havannah Hoeft (11).
» Jeryn Hildenbrand and Maui Robins each registered a team-high one ace.
» Elin Larsson's 16 kills led all players in the match.
» Both Tinoa Woodward-Hart and Jeryn Hildenbrand recorded a match-high 13 digs each.
» Havannah Hoeft dished out a match-high 33 assists, recording her third double-double of the season with 33 assists and 11 digs.

How It Happened

SET 1 | The Pilots fell behind early, losing a close first set 25-23. Portland trailed by as many as six points as Idaho State grabbed the advantage for good at 22-21 in a set that was knotted up 10 times before the Bengals took over in the second half of the set.

SET 2 | Portland dropped set two 25-16, digging a 2-0 hole in the match. Portland knotted the set up once before the Bengals took over the lead.

SET 3 | Portland got on the board after a win in the third set to make it a 2-1 match. The Pilots persevered in a back-and-forth set to win 26-24 in a set that featured six lead changes and was tied 12 times. Neither team opened up a lead of more than three points along the way.

SET 4 | Portland couldn't build off the set-three victory and fell in set four 25-21 to drop the match. The Pilots trailed by as many as seven points as Idaho State grabbed the advantage for good at 11-10 and Portland was never able to recover in a set that was knotted up seven times before the Bengals took over the lead.

Up Next
The Pilots continue play at the UniWyo Invite in Laramie, Wyoming, squaring off against Long Beach State on Friday, Sept. 19 at 1:00 p.m. PT. The match will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network, with live stats available at PortlandPilots.com.

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