By Malika Andrews |
It was a five set battle, but Portland volleyball’s losing streak is over. A monster 21 kills from Emily Liger led the Pilots to a 3-2 win over University of San Francisco in the Chiles Center Thursday night. This is Portland's first win in seven matches and their second win in conference.
Katarina Pilepic tallied 25 kills in the match for USF.
“I think we should’ve beat them in three,” Liger said. “I think the first two sets we made three errors the whole game and after that, I think we had like nine. But it feels good to finally come away with a win.”
After the Pilots tied the first set at four, Portland went on a six-point run to go up 10-4. San Francisco gained possession back but Liger capitalized on the side-out. A big block by Brittney Markwith and Liger put Portland on top 13-5.
The Dons were able to take advantage of a blocking error but another kill from Liger gave Pilots possession leading 15-6. USF was able to get in a couple more points, but Pilots sailed to an easy 25-14 first set win.
The Pilots had only one attack error on the set to the Don’s 10. This was the first set the Pilots have won of the last 13.
Portland and USF tied the score eight times in set two. Hannah Troutman and Markwith’s block put Portland up 11-9. With the Pilots leading 16-13, Liger hammered a kill into the middle to prompt a San Francisco timeout. The Dons were able to pull within six, but the Pilots walked away with a 25-19 second set win and 2-0 lead at the break.
San Francisco came out strong in the third. Djurdjina Milovic and Markwith combined for a block to tie the score at six. Portland would then go on a 4-0 run. Liger’s attack error gave USF possession at 10-7. The Dons tied the set again at 13 off an attack error by Troutman. The teams traded points until San Francisco took an 18-16 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. USF won set three 25-20.
After trading points early in the fourth, the teams tied at 11 where Portland would stay. USF went on a 5-0 run until a service error by the Don's Sara Staengle gave the Pilots the ball back. After head coach Brent Crouch subbed in junior Makayla Lindburg for Troutman, Lindburg and Katie Sullivan teamed up for a block to bring the score to 21-15. A cannon by Liger, a combined Markwith and Sarah Savoca block, and a service ace by Milovic brought the Pilots within five. Still, Portland couldn’t find the momentum to close the gap and USF took set four 25-19.
It came down to the wire, but Portland pulled out a 15-13 win in the fifth to take match.
“I told the team at the end of the match that I feel really ambivalent,” Crouch said. “We played really well the first two sets and we didn’t sustain that. It’s good that we did it enough to get a win but it would be better if we could do it in three sets total and just end it.”
The Pilots return to action on Saturday at noon against Santa Clara.
Malika Andrews is the sports editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu or on Twitter @malika_andrews.
