PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots volleyball team capped a demanding opening week at home falling 3-0 to an undefeated No. 14 Oregon in their fifth match in five days on Sunday at the Chiles Center. The Ducks won by scores of 25-10, 25-14 and 25-17.
Portland drops to 2-5, while the Ducks improve to 5-0.
Senior Maria and junior Jessica Clemens paced the Pilots attack with eight kills and five digs each. Junior Danielle Dupar and junior Jessica Baty also notched five digs apiece.
Senior Shelley Sievers’ three blocks was good enough for a shared match-high. Oregon’s Heather Meyers also had three.
Senior Kaylyn Jones orchestrated the Pilots offense with 15 assists.
Portland looked sharp coming out of the gates in the first set courtesy of kills from both Maria and Jessica Clemens followed by a big Shelley Sievers block that kept the score even at 3-3. From there, the Ducks took off on a 9-1 run building a 12-4 advantage. Oregon continued to mount a 20-6 lead after a flurry of five Dana Stephenson kills and two Katherine Fischer kills. Maria Clemens and sophomore Marissa Plummer hammered down two kills each late in the set but the Ducks proved to be too much claiming the set 25-10.
After zero lead changes in the first set, the second set saw the Pilots earn their first lead of the match at 2-1 behind a block from Jessica Clemens and Plummer. Oregon quickly reclaimed the lead and built it into an 18-7 advantage. The rest of the set was an even battle with both teams scoring seven points, but it was the Ducks who won the race to 25 to seal the set victory at 25-14.
The Ducks continued their solid play into the third set up to 10-5 before being interrupted by a Maria Clemens kill. Oregon hit a very high percentage in the set, jumping out to extend the lead to 20-10. The Pilots roared back with a 5-2 run behind a Plummer kill. Oregon answered back with a 3-2 stretch to finish off the Pilots 25-17.
Sonja Newcombe led Oregon with a match-high 13 kills, while Meyers added 11. Kellie Kawasaki had a match-high nine digs and Nevena Djordjevic dished out a match-high 37 assists.
The Pilots next travel to the Kansas State Invitational in Manhattan, Kan. for three non-conference clashes against ranked opponents No. 18 Kentucky, No. 23 Kansas State and No. 24 Purdue on Sept. 11-12.
For all of the latest information on Portland Pilots volleyball, please visit www.portlandpilots.com. Follow the Pilots on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PortlandPilots and Assistant Coach Sara Reilly on Twitter at www.twitter.com/UPVolleyball.
