Week 12 Notes

PORTLAND PILOTS (14-11, 7-6 WCC)
WEEK 12: vs. SAN DIEGO/ BYU
 
#7 San Diego Toreros (21-3, 12-1 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Nov. 10, 2016
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Time: 7:00 PM
Facility: Jenny Craig Pavilion
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: USDToreros.com
 
POR vs. USD
Overall Series: 8-51
H: 6-24 • A: 2-27 • N: 0-0
Last: USD 3, @POR 0 (10/15/2016)


#12 BYU Cougars (22-3, 11-2 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 12, 2016
Place: Provo, Utah
Time: 12:00 PM (Pacific)
Facility: Smith Fieldhouse
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: BYUCougars.com
 
POR vs. BYU
Overall Series: 1-10
H: 1-5 • A: 0-5 • N: 0-0 
Last: @POR 3, BYU 2 (10/13/2016)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots will travel to San Diego, Calif., and Provo, Utah, this week for their last road trip of the season
• The Pilots will first take on No. 7 San Diego Thursday night at 7:00 p.m., followed by No. 12 BYU on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
• Both matches will be streamed live on theW.tv and live stats can be found on USDToreros.com and BYUCougars.com
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots welcomed Pepperdine and LMU to the Chiles Center.
• Portland first overcame Pepperdine Thursday night 3-1 for their first ever season sweep of Waves.
• Hannah Troutman led the team with a double-double, finishing with 22 kills and 19 digs. Reghan Pukis also reached double digit kills with 10. Katie Sullivan almost reached double-digits in blocks with eight on the evening.
• Saturday afternoon LMU topped the Pilots in three sets.
• Troutman led the Pilots with nine kills, followed by Sullivan and Pukis each with eight kills. Gajda recorded 14 digs on the afternoon just ahead of Troutman with 13.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are currently 19th in the nation and first in the WCC in aces per set (1.67). They also rank 20th nationally and first in conference in total aces (162).
• Junior transfer Hannah Troutman is one of several Pilots among the league's statistical rankings, ranking first in the league for total points (420.0), total kills (369), and total attacks (1108). She also ranks second in attacks per set (11.42) and third in points per set (4.33) and kills per set (3.80).
• Freshman Cali Thompson is first in the WCC in total assists (942), second in assists per sets (9.71) and third in service aces (31). Only in her first year on The Bluff, Thompson is already making strides by ranking fifth in Pilot history in assists per set (9.70).
• Senior Katie Sullivan is third in the league for total blocks (107) and fourth in blocks per set (1.10). She also ranks third all-time at UP in career blocks assists (313), fourth in blocks per set (.95), and fifth in total blocks (375).
• Senior Monica Gajda ranks first in aces (33), second in aces per set in the league (.35), and third  in digs per set (3.80). All-time she ranks ninth in digs per set (2.97) and 13th in digs (944)
• Opening the 2016 season, the Pilots defeated all three tournament host teams they faced, and outright won the Maroon Classic (Sept. 16-17) in Starkville, Miss. At the Bulldog Showdown (Sept. 2-3) Thompson, Mandon, and Sullivan received All-Tournament honors at the Maroon Classic, and Gajda was named Best Libero.
• On one of the Pilots' first road trips of conference, they defeated the Pepperdine Waves in Malibu for the second time ever.
• Head coach Brent Crouch is in his third year at the helm, joined by first-year assistant coaches Jeff Baxter and Betsy Sedlak. Rick Moller also joined the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant.
• Last year was historic for the program as the Pilots claimed several impressive accomplishments, including the best ever start to a season (10-1).
• 2015 also marked the most homes wins (10) in program history since competing at the NCAA D1 level, and the Pilots swept then-No. 23 San Diego for their first ever program victory over a ranked team.
• Current junior Brittney Markwith recorded the second most blocks in a season in program history in 2015 with a total of 119. She also ranks fifth all time at Portland in block assists (305), is sixth in total blocks (332), and is 10th in blocks per set (.81).
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
• San Diego enters the weekend coming off of two sweeps against Saint Mary's and Pacific.
• Senior Lisa Kramer leads the Toreros with 280 kills, followed by senior Lauren Schad with 241. Schad and sophomore Addie Picha lead the team in blocks with 64 and 59, respectively.
• Jennifer Petrie is in her 13th year as head coach and has led USD to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• BYU also enters the weekend off of sweeps against Saint Mary's and Pacific.
• The Cougars are led by freshman McKenna Miller who has 352 kills and Senior Amy Boswell with 250. Boswell and Whitney Howard lead the defense with 111 and 102 blocks on the season.
• Head coach Heather Olmstead is in her second year with the Cougars.
 
TERRIFIC SEASON FOR TROUTMAN
• Junior Hannah Troutman, who is in her second season with the Pilots after coming north from Oregon State, received WCC Player of the Week Honors for the week of October 18th, following the upset victory over No. 11 BYU. The junior averaged 4.00 kills, 3.38 digs and 4.38 point per set against a pair of top-15 opponents.
• She also earned All-Tournament Honors at the Bulldog Showdown (Sept. 2-3) and landed tourney MVP at the Maroon Classic.
• Troutman is also already leaving her mark in the program's record books. She currently ranks fifth all-time in kills per set (3.44), seventh in digs per set (3.22) and in points per set (3.96).