STOCKTON, Calif. - Portland Pilots Volleyball hits the road to go against the Pacific Tigers and the Saint Mary's Gaels. The Pilots take on the Tigers on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif. Then Portland will play Saint Mary's on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. at the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, Calif. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.
Opponent: Pacific (4-12, 0-4 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Oct. 8, 2026
Time: 6 PM
Place: Stockton, Calif.
Facility: Alex G. Spanos
Video: ESPN+
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. PAC
Overall Series: 6-18
Last: W 3-0 (Oct. 23, 2025)
Opponent: Saint Mary's (8-8, 3-1 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Oct. 10, 2026
Time: 2 PM
Place: Moraga, Calif.
Facility: University Credit Union Pavilion
Video: ESPN+
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. SMC
Overall Series: 27-54
Last: L 2-3 (Oct. 25, 2025)
THIS SEASON
• Portland is currently 9-3 overall with a winning percentage of .750 and 2-1 in the WCC. This is the best record the Pilots have had for their first 12 games since 2018 when they began the season with 12 straight wins.
• The Pilots finished Week 6 with a loss to Santa Clara (25-19, 25-15, 25-21) and a win over San Francisco (25-22, 25-20, 27-25).
• Kala Chock set a team high of 12 kills at the Santa Clara match and tied for a team high of eight digs with Havannah Hoeft. She recorded a match high across both teams against San Francisco with 12 kills.
• Jeryn Hildenbrand led the Pilots with a team high of 13 digs against San Francisco, tying her career high in one match for the third time.
• Hildenbrand leads Portland in service aces with 23 this season. She ranks second in the WCC for aces per set (0.51) and fifth for total service aces (23). Nationally, she is 39th in aces per set.
• Lila Krall recorded 11 kills against San Francisco, setting a new career high for kills in one match.
• Havannah Hoeft had a team high of 33 assists at the Santa Clara match and a match high across both teams of 37 assists at the San Francisco match. She tied for a match high across both teams with teammate Ava Lilo with three service aces each
against San Francisco.
• Chock is the only player to win WCC Freshman of the Week more than once this season, earning the award a total of three times so far. Chock leads the Pilots with 132 kills and ranks second among Freshman in the WCC for total kills. She is ranked 10th in WCC for kills per set (2.93).
• Chock was named MVP of the Portland Invite earlier this season.
• Hoeft earned WCC Setter of the Week on Sept. 21 after she surpassed 500 career digs and 50 career service aces at the Nevada match. She led Portland with 10 digs at the Seattle U match and recorded 28 total assists, setting up her teammate Taina Kaauwai for an .800 hitting percentage.
• Hoeft leads Portland in assists (447) and digs (135). She ranks third in the WCC for assists per set (9.93) and fifth for total assists (447).
• Hoeft ranks seventh in Pilot program history with 2,290 assists.
• This season Hoeft has been named to All-Tournament Team three times and Kaauwai has been named to All-Tournament Team twice.
• Kaauwai leads Portland with 32.0 blocks this season. She ranks first in WCC and second nationally for her hitting percentage of .502. Kaauwai sits 10th in Pilot history for total blocks (306).
LAST SEASON
• The Pilots went 14-15 overall and 9-9 in WCC play, the most conference wins for Portland since 2016.
• Portland had five Pilots make All-WCC: Maui Robins, Havannah Hoeft, Lucia Busso, Taina Kaauwai and Elin Larsson.
•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. 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.
• In their home opener at the Portland Invitational, Pilots swept Eastern Washington in straight sets (25-15, 25-21, 25-23) for their fourth sweep of the season.
• Robins was named Portland Invitational Tournament Co-MVP while Hoeft was named to the All-Tournament Team.
• On Sept. 8, 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.
• On Sept. 18 against the Idaho State Bengals, Maui Robins officially eclipsed 1,000 career kills. • On Sept. 29, Hoeft was named West Coast Conference Setter of the Week for her performance, marking Portland's second weekly conference award this season and the second of her career.
• The Portland win against Seattle U on Oct. 4 gave the Pilots their first 3-0 start in conference play in program history.
• The Pilots opened their homestand with a dominant 3-0 sweep over San Francisco, hitting a season-best .411 — their highest attack percentage in a match since 2018. This is the first time the Pilots have posted four wins in six conference games to start WCC play since 2017.
• Senior Lucia Busso was named WCC Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 10, earning her first career weekly honor and Portland's third conference award this season. Busso totaled 29 kills and 34 points while hitting .373 across two matches. She has now surpassed 600 career kills and 150 career blocks, marking her best season yet with 238 kills so far.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Megan Burton enters her seventh season as head coach of the Pilots volleyball program. Dylan Hamilton is the associate head coach, while assistant coach Kyle Homeyer returns for the 2026 season. The Pilots also welcome back Kanza Tanuvasa in
her second year as an assistant coach.
• The program welcomes back 13 letter winners from the 2025 campaign.
• The Pilots add six freshmen to the roster this fall — Josie Portela, Ellie Diehl Palmer, Ava Lilo, Shaylee Stephen, Kala Chock and Sophia Schneck — along with Sophomore transfer Lillian Lansing.
• Returning standouts Maui Robins and Havannah Hoeft will continue to play pivotal roles in the Pilots' lineup.
• Outside Hitter Maui Robins, was named to the 2026 WCC Preseason Team, the third year in a row.
• Last year Robins led her team in service aces, along with Hoeft, and became the 22nd Pilot to reach 1,000 career points.
• Robins finished last season second of her team in kills (300), second in digs (234), fourth is assists (40) and fourth in blocks (42).
• Robins is ranked fourth in program history for kills (1,309) and eighth in program history for service aces (133).
• Setter Havannah Hoeft made 2026 All-WCC Preseason and started in all 29 games last season. This is the second year Hoeft has been named to the Preseason Team.
• Hoeft led Portland with 919 assists and was tied for the most service aces along with Maui Robins. She is ranked seventh all-time in program history for career assists (2,290) and received WCC Setter of the Week twice last season.
• Returner Taina Kaauwai was named to All-WCC Second Team last season. She was second on the team in blocks (77), and fourth in kills (183) and service aces (25).
• Nevaeh Bray is returning for another season. Last year Bray led the team in blocks (78), and was fifth on the team in kills (72).
• Tinoa Woodward-Hart led Portland in digs last year (297) and was third in assists (47).
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Pacific is currently 4-12 overall and 0-4 in the WCC conference; losing to Denver, San Diego, Pepperdine and LMU in sweeps.
• Nicole Zake leads the Tigers in kills (160), Isabella Gutierrez leads in digs (219) and Julia Porath leads in blocks (32.0).
• Alessia Couchond leads her team with 314 assists and 18 service aces this season.
• Jeff Hendershot is entering his first season as the Pacific volleyball head coach.
• Saint Mary's is 8-8 overall and 3-1 in WCC this year. Last week they lost to LMU in a sweep and took a win over Pepperdine at 3-1.
• Antonie Kelnarova leads the Gaels with 217 kills and 39 service aces.
• Sadie White leads in assists (394), Alayna Pearson leads in digs (206) and Anaya Thrower leads in blocks (61.0).
• Tyler Hildebrand is in his second year as the Saint Mary's volleyball head coach.
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