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SAN JOSE, Calif. – Portland\u00a0Pilots\u00a0Volleyball hit the road to play in the\u00a0San Jose State Invite to begin a month of away matches.\u00a0The\u00a0Pilots 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\u00a0Highlanders on Saturday, Sep. 5 at 3 p.m. in the Spartan Gym. This will be the first time the Pilots go\u00a0head-to-head\u00a0with the Highlanders in\u00a011 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Opponent:\u00a0San Jose Spartans\u00a0(1-2, 0-0 Mountain West)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n THIS SEASON<\/p>\n \u2022 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).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Kala Chock recorded 17 kills in a match against Portland State, the most by any Pilot\u00a0freshman\u00a0since 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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\u00a0kills\u00a0and was named MVP of the Portland Invite.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Chock\u00a0ranks first among\u00a0freshman\u00a0in kills in the WCC.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Hoeft and Kaauwai were both named to the Portland Invite All-Tournament Team.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Kaauwai leads her team in blocks (8)\u00a0and has a current hitting percentage of .514.\u00a0After Portland’s most\u00a0previous\u00a0match against Nevada, she\u00a0climbed into Top 10 in program all time history for blocks (282).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022Kaauwai currently ranks second in the WCC for\u00a0hitting\u00a0percentage (.514) and Hoeft ranks fourth in WCC for assists per set (9.88).\u00a0<\/p>\n LAST SEASON<\/p>\n \u2022 Pilots went 14-15 overall and 9-9 in WCC play, the most conference wins for Portland since 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Portland had five Pilots\u00a0make\u00a0All-WCC: Maui Robins, Havannah Hoeft, Lucia Busso, Taina\u00a0Kaauwai\u00a0and Elin Larsson.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022Portland opened the season undefeated at the Vandal Volleyball Invitational, sweeping CSU Fullerton, Oral Roberts, and Idaho in straight sets.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Robins was named Portland Invitational Tournament Co-MVP while Hoeft was named to the All-Tournament Team.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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\u00a0with\u00a0a team-high 14 digs against Eastern Washington, and capped the week with a career-high 28 digs in the five-set victory over CSUN.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 On Sept. 18 against the Idaho State Bengals, Maui Robins officially eclipsed 1,000 career kills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 The Portland win against Seattle U on Oct.\u00a04\u00a0 gave\u00a0the Pilots their first 3-0 start in conference play in program history.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 The Pilots opened their homestand with a dominant 3-0 sweep over San Francisco, hitting a season-best .411 \u2014 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.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n ABOUT THE PILOTS<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 The program welcomes back 13 letter winners from the 2025 campaign.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 The Pilots add six\u00a0freshmen\u00a0to the roster this fall \u2014 Josie Portela, Ellie Diehl Palmer, Ava Lilo, Shaylee Stephen, Kala Chock and Sophia Schneck \u2014 along with Sophomore transfer Lillian Lansing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Returning standouts Maui Robins and Havannah Hoeft will continue to play pivotal roles in the\u00a0Pilots’\u00a0lineup.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Outside Hitter Maui Robins, was named to the 2026 WCC Preseason Team, the third year in a row.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Last year Robins led her team in service aces, along with Hoeft, and became the 22nd Pilot to reach 1,000 career points.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Robins finished last season second\u00a0of\u00a0her team in kills (300), second in digs (234),\u00a0fourth is\u00a0assists\u00a0(40) and fourth in blocks (42).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Robins\u00a0is\u00a0ranked sixth in program history for kills (1,146) and tenth in program history for service aces (119).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Setter Havannah Hoeft made\u00a02026\u00a0All-WCC Preseason and started in all 29 games last season. This is the second year Hoeft has been named to the Preseason Team.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Returner Taina Kaauwai was named to\u00a0All-WCC Second Team last season. She was second on the team in blocks (77), and fourth in kills (183) and service aces (25).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Nevaeh Bray is returning for another season. Last year Bray led the team in blocks (78), and\u00a0was fifth on the team in kills (72).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Tinoa Woodward-Hart led Portland in digs last year (297) and was third in assists (47).\u00a0<\/p>\n ABOUT THE OPPONENT<\/p>\n \u2022 San Jose Spartans went 13-16 overall and 8-10 in the Mountain West Conference last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Tatiana Robinson leads her team in kills (30) and is tied with Learden Lee for blocks (9).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Fatima Hall runs the offense with 64 assists and Zuzana Kosikova is leading her team with 34 digs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Todd Kress enters his third year as the San Jose State head volleyball coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Last year the UC Riverside Highlanders\u00a0went 9-19 overall and 5-13 in the Big West Conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 This season Riverside is 1-1 overall with a loss to Alabama and a win over Samford.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Andrea Brewer leads her team in kills (23), Elena Kasavica leads her team in assists (27) and Misu Nguyen leads in digs (29).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Branden Higa is entering his second year as the UC Riverside women’s volleyball head coach.\u00a0 Get Your Tickets Now!\u00a0\u00a0
\nDay:\u00a0Thursday\u00a0
\nDate:\u00a0Sep. 3, 2026\u00a0\u00a0
\nTime:\u00a03\u00a0PM\u00a0\u00a0
\nPlace:\u00a0San Jose, Calif.\u00a0
\nFacility:\u00a0Spartan Gym\u00a0
\nVideo:\u00a0MW+<\/a>\u00a0
\nStats:\u00a0PortlandPilots.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0
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\nPOR vs.\u00a0SJSU\u00a0\u00a0
\nOverall Series:\u00a04-3\u00a0\u00a0
\nLast:\u00a0L 1-3\u00a0(Sep. 1, 2023)\u00a0\u00a0
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\nOpponent:\u00a0UC Riverside Highlanders\u00a0(1-1, 0-0\u00a0Big\u00a0West)\u00a0\u00a0
\nDay:\u00a0Saturday\u00a0
\nDate:\u00a0Sep. 5, 2026\u00a0\u00a0
\nTime:\u00a02 PM\u00a0\u00a0
\nPlace:\u00a0San Jose, Calif.\u00a0
\nFacility:\u00a0Spartan Gym\u00a0
\nVideo:\u00a0MW+<\/a>\u00a0
\nStats:\u00a0PortlandPilots.com<\/a>\u00a0
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\nPOR vs.\u00a0UCR\u00a0
\nOverall Series:\u00a04-1\u00a0
\nLast:\u00a0W 3-0\u00a0(Sep.\u00a05, 2015)\u00a0<\/p>\n
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