SAN FRACISCO, Calif. - Portland Pilots Volleyball are on the road for their next two matches before returning home next week. The Pilots will go head-to-head with the San Francisco Dons on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. at The Sobrato Center. Then Portland will take on the Santa Clara Broncos on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. at Leavey Center. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.
Opponent: San Francisco Dons (10-14, 2-9 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Nov. 5, 2026
Time: 6 PM
Place: San Francisco, Calif.
Facility: War Memorial at The Sobrato Center
Video: ESPN+
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. USF
Overall Series: 38-43
Last: W 3-0 (Oct. 3, 2026)
Opponent: Santa Clara Broncos (9-14, 5-6 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 7, 2026
Time: 1 PM
Place: Santa Clara, Calif.
Facility: Leavey Center
Video: ESPN+
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. SCU
Overall Series: 16-63
Last: L 0-3 (Oct. 1, 2026)
THIS SEASON
• Portland is currently 11-8 overall and 4-6 in the WCC. This is the best record the Pilots have had for their first 19 games since 2018 when they went 15-4, beginning the season with 12 straight wins.
• Last week the Pilots lost to LMU in three sets (25-18, 25-15, 25-20) and Pepperdine in four sets (25-23, 17-25, 25-23, 25-17).
• Kala Chock had a match high across both team with 15 kills against LMU. She recorded another 15 kills at the match against Pepperdine, a team high. She also tied with Tinoa Woodward-Hart for a team high in service aces (2).
• Woodward-Hart tied for a team high against LMU for digs, her and Havannah Hoeft recording eight digs each. Woodward-Hart also set a match high across both teams with 17 digs against Pepperdine.
• Hoeft set up the Pilots with 29 assists against LMU and 36 assists against Pepperdine, both team highs.
• Shaylee Stephen tallied a team high against LMU with three blocks. She had a match high across both teams and set new career high with 10 total blocks against Pepperdine. She is the first player to get 10 total blocks in a match since 2024 when Taina Kaauwai had 12 blocks and Lucia Busso had 10 blocks in the same match against Santa Clara.
• Kaauwai ranks first in the WCC and second nationally with her hitting percentage .519. She leads Portland with 47.0 blocks this season and ranks ninth in Pilot program history with 321 total blocks.
• Hildenbrand leads Portland in service aces with 34 this season. She ranks second in the WCC for aces per set (0.47) and fourth for total service aces (34). Nationally, she is 38th in aces per set.
• Chock leads the Pilots with 238 kills and ranks second among Freshman in the WCC for total kills. She is ranked sixth in WCC for kills per set (3.31).
• Chock was named MVP of the Portland Invite earlier this season and has won the WCC Freshman of the Week award a total of three times, the only freshman to win this award three times 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 Kaauwai for an .800 hitting percentage.
• Hoeft leads Portland in assists (702) and digs (206). She ranks third in the WCC for assists per set (9.75) and fifth for total assists (702).
• Hoeft ranks seventh in Pilot history with 2,545 assists.
• This season Hoeft has been named to All-Tournament Team three times and Kaauwai has been named to All-Tournament Team twice.
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 of 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 (2,545) 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
• The San Francisco Dons are 10-14 overall and 2-9 in the WCC this season. Last week, they lost to San Diego in three sets (25-7, 25-16, 25-22) and Denver in three sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-22).
• Petra Fritz leads the Dons with 289 kills, Emma Neukirchen leads with 37 service aces and Jordan Smart leads with 433 assists.
• Laura Amaro leads with 222 digs and Maeve Bailey leads with 61.0 blocks.
• Diogo Silva is in his sixth season as the San Francisco volleyball head coach.
• The Santa Clara Broncos are 9-14 overall and 5-6 in the WCC this season. This week, they took a win over Denver in four sets (25-21, 24-26, 25-18, 27-25) and lost to San Diego in four sets (19-25, 19-25, 25-14, 24-26).
• Cate Shanahan leads the Broncos in kills (377) and Lexi Trapani leads in service aces (31) and digs (336).
• Macy Hinshaw leads with 1,009 assists and Grace Flanagan leads with 69.0 blocks.
• Erin Lindsey is in her eighth season as the Santa Clara volleyball head coach.
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