SAN JOSE, Calif. - Portland Pilots Volleyball hit the road to play in the San Jose State Invite to begin a month of away matches. The Pilots will take on the San Jose Spartans on Thursday, Sep. 3 at 3 p.m. in the Spartan Gym. Then Portland will end the weekend with a match against the UC Riverside Highlanders on Saturday, Sep. 5 at 3 p.m. in the Spartan Gym. This will be the first time the Pilots go head-to-head with the Highlanders in 11 years.
Opponent: San Jose Spartans (1-2, 0-0 Mountain West)
Day: Thursday
Date: Sep. 3, 2026
Time: 3 PM
Place: San Jose, Calif.
Facility: Spartan Gym
Video: MW+
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. SJSU
Overall Series: 4-3
Last: L 1-3 (Sep. 1, 2023)
Opponent: UC Riverside Highlanders (1-1, 0-0 Big West)
Day: Saturday
Date: Sep. 5, 2026
Time: 2 PM
Place: San Jose, Calif.
Facility: Spartan Gym
Video: MW+
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. UCR
Overall Series: 4-1
Last: W 3-0 (Sep. 5, 2015)
THIS SEASON
• The Pilots kicked off this season with two wins. The Pilots took the Portland State Vikings to five sets, winning the match (25-23, 17-25, 25-27, 25-17, 15-8) and took victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack in a three-set sweep (25-23, 25-18, 25-18).
• Kala Chock recorded 17 kills in a match against Portland State, the most by any Pilot freshman since 2022.
• Kala Chock was named WCC Freshman of the Week for Week One with 30 total kills, 19 total digs and a double-double in the Portland State match (17 kills and 12 digs). She is the current team leader in kills and was named MVP of the Portland Invite.
• Chock ranks first among freshman in kills in the WCC.
• Hoeft and Kaauwai were both named to the Portland Invite All-Tournament Team.
• Hoeft had 79 assists in week one, setting her team up for a hitting percentage of .323. She had 25 digs in the Nevada match, one dig short from her match high.
• Kaauwai leads her team in blocks (8) and has a current hitting percentage of .514. After Portland's most previous match against Nevada, she climbed into Top 10 in program all time history for blocks (282).
•Kaauwai currently ranks second in the WCC for hitting percentage (.514) and Hoeft ranks fourth in WCC for assists per set (9.88).
LAST SEASON
• 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 sixth in program history for kills (1,146) and tenth in program history for service aces (119).
• 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 ninth all-time in program history for career assists (1,856) 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
• San Jose Spartans went 13-16 overall and 8-10 in the Mountain West Conference last season.
• The Spartans currently have a 1-2 overall record, falling to Belmont and Weber State with one win over San Francisco in a three-set sweep.
• Tatiana Robinson leads her team in kills (30) and is tied with Learden Lee for blocks (9).
• Fatima Hall runs the offense with 64 assists and Zuzana Kosikova is leading her team with 34 digs.
• Todd Kress enters his third year as the San Jose State head volleyball coach.
• Last year the UC Riverside Highlanders went 9-19 overall and 5-13 in the Big West Conference.
• This season Riverside is 1-1 overall with a loss to Alabama and a win over Samford.
• Andrea Brewer leads her team in kills (23), Elena Kasavica leads her team in assists (27) and Misu Nguyen leads in digs (29).
• Branden Higa is entering his second year as the UC Riverside women's volleyball head coach.
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