The Pilots were able to sweep the season series against Saint Mary’s Thursday night in Portland, defeating the Gaels in 4 sets.
With this win, the Pilots improve to 16-12 on the season and 9-7 in the West Coast Conference. The Gaels drop to 11-16 and 6-10 in the WCC.
Four sets was what it took for the Pilots to claim the victory tonight, but it didn’t come easy. The sets were close throughout the entire match, with neither team able to keep a big lead for themselves.
Junior outside hitter Hannah Troutman had 15 kills in tonight’s win. With those kills, Troutman moves into the top 10 list for most kills in a single season by a Pilot. She now has 394 kills this season, which is good for 8th in the single season kills record.
“It’s a really cool honor to be on that list,” Troutman said. “I feel great about tonight because we came out with the win.”
Along with Troutman, senior Brittney Markwith and sophomore Reghan Pukis also contributed in the kills category, getting 16 and 14, respectively.
The fourth set brought excitement, energy, and competitiveness to the fans at the Chiles Center. Neither team could take a big lead, as the teams were trading points. Towards the end of the fourth set, Markwith took over. She had three huge kills in a row to seal the deal for the Pilots, giving them their biggest lead of the set.
“It was fun. I was calm throughout the entire game, just trying to stay focused on what I had to do, but our passing and digging was amazing tonight,” Markwith said.
Those three kills in a row came in part by way of the digging and setting that the Pilots executed all night long.
Freshman setter Cali Thompson was a key component in the hitter's’ success on Thursday. She finished tonight’s game with 45 assists and helped UP defeat Saint Mary’s with her fantastic touch.
“Cali (Thompson) has been awesome. She’s a freshman and she’s stepping into a really big role here. The position of the setter is huge and she’s stepped in and done well here,” Troutman said.
The Pilots won the first two sets, but lost the third, so the fourth set was crucial.
“I really liked how we finished the match. It was close at the end, and we really turned it on the last few rallies. The hitting was really good; the serving was really good; and when it mattered, we played our best,” head coach Brent Crouch said.
The Pilots finished the match with style, and with an ace by senior Monica Gajda, securing the season sweep of the Gaels.
The Pilots will take this win and their momentum as they on the Pacific Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 19, in the Chiles Center.
