Re: 2018 Volleyball

by ExpatPilot Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:36 pm

With today's 3-0 sweep of Gonzaga and 16 wins, we are guaranteed a winning season -- even if we make some sort of consolation post-season tournament and lose the first game. In 2016, we posted a program high (?) 17 wins (at least high in recent memory). Will this season's squad beat that? They have nine games left to find out.

by Sound Voltex Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:52 pm

Exciting, scrappy game against BYU, fought till the very end, kept it close at times...but BYU is ranked #1 in the nation for good reason. Wish we could've got that third set, but overall proud of them for putting up a good fight.

by wrv Fri Nov 02, 2018 8:50 am

Has recruiting ticked up a notch in volleyball as well. Apparently we will have to wait a bit for Ryann Gregg, but she appears to be a high level recruit.

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2018/11/ryann_gregg_daughter_of_ex-mlb.html

by **PilotNut** Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:01 am

Ryann, who has played competitive volleyball since elementary school, plans to major in psychology at Portland. She felt at home on campus and said it was a "phenomenal fit" with the players and coaching staff.

Great news. The program has excelled at bringing in high-impact transfers the past couple seasons (Pukis, Hoeft, Troutman), and I'm glad to see the incoming freshman matching the same level. Very Happy

by Guest Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:15 am

FYI, they won at Santa Clara yesterday.

by ExpatPilot Fri Nov 02, 2018 11:10 am

up7587 wrote:FYI, they won at Santa Clara yesterday.

I went and looked up the Pilot records on the website: https://portlandpilots.com/documents/2018/7/24/2018_Info_Guide_Vb.pdf.

We currently stand with 17 wins. That ties our highest win total in recent memory (2016) and therefore does stand as our highest win total since joining the WCC (1987). Our highest win total as a Division 1 program is 19 (1986: played as an independent I would assume). Can our ladies beat that number? We will see. We have the talent to do so this season with the remainder of our schedule.

FYI, the most wins in a season all time (including NAIA) is 36 from 1984.

by ExpatPilot Sun Nov 04, 2018 8:57 am

THe 3-2 win over USF makes for 18 wins!

by ExpatPilot Wed Nov 21, 2018 7:19 am

Well, not the season ending we may have wanted but this program just posted its best record in quite a long time! Onward and upward!

by DoubleDipper Sun Nov 25, 2018 11:35 pm

UP Athletics wrote:Entering postseason play for the first time in program history, the Portland Pilots Volleyball team have been selected to participate in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. They will begin play on Thursday, November 29th against Northern Colorado at 4:00 Mountain Time in Laramie, Wyoming.

The Pilots went 18-12 on the season, earning the most victories in a single season in program history. They're the sole representative of the West Coast Conference in the NIVC, as BYU, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Saint Mary's and San Diego have been nominated to play in the 2018 NCAA Women's Volleyball Playoffs.

This is Northern Colorado's first postseason match since playing in the 2014 NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The Bears enter postseason play with a 15-13 record, placing sixth in the Big Sky Conference.

The Pilots will be one of 32 Division I team competing in the NIVC, with the tournament field being comprised of Power 5 and mid-major teams. Ole Miss won the NIVC championship match last season over Texas Tech.

The winner of the match will play either Wyoming or Utah Valley on Friday, November 30th. The Championship match is set for Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 7 pm. All matches will be hosted by participating schools.

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2018/11/25/volleyball-the-pilots-enter-postseason-for-first-time-play-northern-colorado-on-thursday.aspx

by ExpatPilot Mon Nov 26, 2018 5:36 am

Wow! Five of ten WCC teams made the NCAA Playoffs. That’s VERY impressive for our conference.

Also, congrats to volleyball!

by **PilotNut** Mon Nov 26, 2018 11:18 am

Great news for the WCC and for UP!

The website for the NIVC, including the bracket, is here: https://www.womensnivc.com/ The bracket is posted there. There seems to be a few times/time zones listed, but the website seems to indicate the match on Thursday will be a 3:00 Pacific Time... the site mentions the final will have a webcast, but hopefully there will be a stream available for the earlier rounds as well?

This looks like a 64-team tournament, with 4-team groupings for the 1st two rounds. The Pilots, N Colorado, UVU and Wyo play at Wyo, with the winner from this group advancing to play the winner from UNLV (host), Irvine, Fresno and UCSB.

The Pilots hosted and defeated Wyo ealier this season in a 5-set battle, but have not played any of the other teams in the Wyo or UNLV pods.

by ExpatPilot Mon Nov 26, 2018 12:02 pm

PilotNut wrote:
The Pilots hosted and defeated Wyo ealier this season in a 5-set battle, but have not played any of the other teams in the Wyo or UNLV pods.

It's also worth noting that last season we started the year with a 3-0 sweep of a tournament in Laramie which also included a 3-2 win over the hosts: Wyoming.

by **PilotNut** Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:32 pm

Pilots win with a convincing sweep over N Colorado! The Pilots will take on the winner of the WYO-UVU match tomorrow.

CONGRATS PILOTS!

by **PilotNut** Fri Nov 30, 2018 8:20 pm

What a match! Shocked

The Pilots defeated UVU today in 5 sets (25-19, 16-25, 29-27, 27-29, 19-17). This match had wild swings in momentum, with the Pilots digging themselves out of several large deficits to pull off the win, including falling behind 0-6 in the 5th set!!!

The Pilots advance to the round of 8, against UNLV or Fresno State. Location and date TBD. Could this match be at Chiles Center?

by eProf Fri Nov 30, 2018 9:27 pm

I was watching the live stream of the tail end of the UNLV - Fresno State match. The announcer said something on the order of "UNLV will not be able to host the next match due the to the rodeo that will be in town". That hints at a match at Chiles Center.

by **PilotNut** Fri Nov 30, 2018 9:51 pm

The NIVC website shows UNLV at Portland, Thursday 12/6 at 7pm! This is great!! It would be nice to have a good turnout for this one.

UNLV finished 5th in the Mountain West, tied with Boise State (who we beat). This should be a good matchup!

The winner plays Iowa State or North Texas.

by DoubleDipper Fri Nov 30, 2018 10:19 pm

NIVC Tournament:
Round 3
Wednesday, Dec. 5
North Texas (19-16) at Iowa State (18-13), 4pm
Thursday, Dec. 6
Valparaiso (27-10) at Tulane (27-7), 4pm
College of Charleston (23-11) at Clemson (19-14), 4pm
UNLV (21-11) at Portland (20-12), 7pm

Semifinals – Dec. 7-9
Championship – Tuesday, Dec. 11, 7pm ET

Events in the Chiles Center during the Semifinals/Final dates:
12/7 @ 7pm, UP WBB vs. Warner Pacific
12/8 @ 7pm UP MBB vs. Sacramento St.
12/9 @ 2pm UP WBB vs. Willamette U.