PORTLAND PILOTS (5-6, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 5: Pacific Tigers, Saint Mary's Gaels
 
Pacific Tigers
(6-5, 0-0 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Sept. 25, 2025
Time: 6 P.M. (PST)
Place: Portland, Ore.
Facility: Chiles Center
Live Video: ESPN+
Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. PAC
Overall Series: 4-20
Last: L 2-3 (Nov. 30, 2024)
 
Saint Mary's Gaels
(2-9, 0-0 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Sept. 27, 2025
Time: 1 P.M. (PST)
Place: Portland, Ore.
Facility: Chiles Center
Live Video: ESPN+
Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. SMC
Overall Series: 7-21
Last: L 1-3 (Nov. 27, 2024)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots open West Coast Conference play on Thursday, Sept. 25, hosting the Pacific Tigers at 6 p.m. inside the Chiles Center. 
• Portland continues its homestand on Saturday, Sept. 27, taking on Saint Mary's at 1 p.m.
• Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats available at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• Portland opened the UniWyo Invite with a four-set battle against Idaho State, falling 3-1 (23-25, 16-25, 26-24, 21-25) on Thursday. Elin Larsson paced the attack with a match-high 16 kills on a .364 clip, while Taina Kaauwai added 11 kills at a .296 mark. Four Pilots reached double-digit digs, led by Tinoa Woodward-Hart and Jeryn Hildenbrand with 13 apiece. Setter Havannah Hoeft notched her third double-double of the year with 33 assists and 11 digs.
• Maui Robins officially eclipsed 1,000 career kills.
• On Friday, the Pilots were swept by Long Beach State (19-25, 10-25, 17-25). Larsson and Maui Robins each recorded eight kills, while Robins also led the defense with seven digs. Hoeft handed out 13 assists and Woodward-Hart chipped in an ace.
• Portland closed the weekend against host Wyoming on Saturday, dropping a 3-0 decision (18-25, 21-25, 20-25). Robins led the offense with a match-high 13 kills on .375 hitting, followed by Larsson (12) and Lucia Busso (11). Woodward-Hart collected 12 digs to anchor the defense, and Hoeft tallied 24 assists.
 
THIS SEASON
• Portland opened the season undefeated at the Vandal Volleyball Invitational, sweeping CSU Fullerton, Oral Roberts, and Idaho in straight sets.
• Elin Larsson led the Pilots with match-high kills in every game and was named MVP of the Vandal Volleyball Invitational. She ranks third in the WCC in kills per set and fifth in total kills.
• Lucia Busso earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team after finishing with 25 kills over three matches, second most on the team.
• Setter Havannah Hoeft paced the Pilots with 92 assists across three matches, averaging a league-best 10.22 per set. She also directed Portland's attack to a .309 hitting percentage, the top mark in the WCC. Hoeft surpassed 1,000 career assists in just the third match of her sophomore year.
• Team captain Maui Robins anchored both sides of the court, recording a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs in the win over CSU Fullerton.
• The Portland Pilots opened the week on the road at Oregon, falling in three close sets (21-25, 20-25, 23-25) to the Ducks. Maui Robins registered her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs, while Lucia Busso chipped in 10 kills. Setter Havannah Hoeft dished out a match-high 30 assists to pace the attack. On defense, libero Tinoa Woodward-Hart notched a match-high 11 digs, and Nevaeh Bray added four blocks at the net.
• Portland bounced back in their home opener at the Portland Invitational, sweeping Eastern Washington in straight sets (25-15, 25-21, 25-23) for their fourth sweep of the season. Elin Larsson led the offense with a match-high 13 kills on a .522 hitting percentage, while Hoeft served a career-high five aces and posted her first double-double of the year with a match-high 32 assists and 10 digs. Woodward-Hart tallied a team-high 14 digs, one of three Pilots in double figures. The Pilots delivered a match-high 12 aces as a team and rallied from down seven points to steal the third set.
• The Pilots capped off the Invitational with a five-set thriller over CSUN (25-18, 22-25, 20-25, 25-20, 20-18), improving to 5-1 on the season. Captain Maui Robins powered the offense with a career-high 23 kills and a match-high 25.5 points, while Busso and Larsson each finished with 14 kills. Hoeft directed the attack with a match-high 40 assists, and Taina Kaauwai added a match-high three aces. Woodward-Hart anchored the back row with a career-high 28 digs as Portland finished with 18 team blocks and 10 total aces.
• Robins was named Tournament Co-MVP while Hoeft was named to the Portland Invitational All-Tournament Team.
• Libero Tinoa Woodward-Hart was named West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week after leading Portland's back row in all three matches. She posted a match-high 11 digs at Oregon, followed with a team-high 14 digs against Eastern Washington, and capped the week with a career-high 28 digs in the five-set victory over CSUN.
• The Portland Pilots came up just short in a five-set battle, falling 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 10-25, 27-25, 11-15) to Hawai'i on Thursday night at Bankoh Arena inside the Stan Sheriff Center. Maui Robins paced the Pilots with her third double-double of the year, finishing with 16 kills and 10 digs. Elin Larsson added 12 kills, while Lucia Busso chipped in 10 kills and five blocks. Setter Havannah Hoeft dished out a team-high 36 assists, and freshman Jeryn Hildenbrand tallied a career-high 13 digs to go with a match-high two aces.
• In the second matchup of the series, Portland struck first but fell 3-1 (25-21, 15-25, 23-25, 17-25) to the Rainbow Wahine on Friday. Larsson led the offense with a season-high 17 kills, while Busso posted a season-best 16 kills on a .344 hitting clip. Hoeft recorded her second double-double of the season with 39 assists and a season-high 12 digs. Tinoa Woodward-Hart anchored the defense with a team-high 15 digs, and Nevaeh Bray added five blocks at the net.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Megan Burton enters her sixth season as head coach of the Pilots volleyball program. Dylan Hamilton has been promoted to associate head coach, while assistant coach Kyle Homeyer returns for the 2025 season. The Pilots also welcome Kanza Tanuvasa as an assistant coach.
• The program welcomes back 12 letter winners from the 2024 campaign.
• The Pilots add six true freshmen to the roster this fall — Meki Maile, Jeryn Hildenbrand, Lila Krall, Vanessa Haddock, Callie Pieper, and Georgia Haynes — along with graduate student Jules Tan.
• Portland will look to captain Maui Robins to continue guiding the team to new heights in 2025. Robins was named All-WCC Honorable Mention in 2024 and secured a spot on the 2025 All-WCC Preseason Team. Last season, she led the Pilots in kills (305) and service aces (32), while ranking second in digs (266), third in blocks (56.0), and fourth in assists (34). She also finished ninth in the WCC in total points (369). A highlight of her 2024 campaign came on October 31, when she surpassed 1,000 career points—becoming just the 22nd player in program history to achieve the milestone, and doing so in only three seasons.
• Returning standouts Taina Kaauwai and Havannah Hoeft will continue to play pivotal roles in the Pilots' lineup.
• Middle blocker Taina Kaauwai, named to the 2025 WCC Preseason Team, started all 28 matches last season and made history as the first Pilot to earn AVCA All-Region honors (Northwest Honorable Mention). She led the WCC in hitting percentage (.382), ranked 34th nationally, and totaled 114 blocks. Kaauwai also became the first Pilot since 2017 to earn All-WCC First Team honors and set a new single-match school record with 12 blocks.
• Setter Havannah Hoeft made an outstanding debut in the 2024 season, earning All-WCC Honorable Mention. She tallied a career-high 61 assists on Aug. 30—the most by a Pilot since 2018—and earned Freshman of the Week recognition. Hoeft posted 10 double-doubles and finished with 924 assists, the most by a freshman since 2016, placing her in the program's Top 20 all-time.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
•  Graduate OH Olivia Keller leads the Tigers with 138 kills (.175 hitting). Sophomore setter Alessia Couchond directs the offense with 251 assists (5.98 per set), and senior libero Jayhlin Swain anchors the defense with 160 digs (3.81 per set).
• The Gaels is hitting .195 as a team, averaging 11.4 kills per set. Redshirt Senior Genevieve Bane leads with 137 kills (.203 hitting), and freshman Ivona Lazovic directs the offense with 295 assists. Defensively, sophomore Tessa Schouten leds with 27 blocks while junior libero Alayna Pearson records 161 digs on the season.
 

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