By Ben Arthur|
Portland came up short to No. 23 Pacific Saturday afternoon in the Chiles Center. Despite tallying 32 attack errors, Pacific was able to capitalize on the Pilots' inability to be effective on serve receive, recording seven service aces.
“We had a hard time handling their serves today,” assistant coach Dan Matthews said. “Ultimately, that was the difference in the game.”
Senior Emily Liger, and sophomore Sarah Savoca and Hannah Troutman finished with 12 kills apiece.
An early 3-0 run by Pacific gave them a 6-2 lead in set one. After trading points with the Tigers, Portland used their first timeout of the game trailing 10-5. Kills by Markwith, Troutman and Liger kept the game close, but the Tigers maintained a comfortable lead at 16-12. The Pilots made it interesting by going on a 4-0 run at the end of the set to make it 23-20, but an error from Troutman and a kill gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage in the match.
Pacific took set one, 25-21.
The Tigers kept their momentum at the beginning of set two, going on a 4-0 run that forced the Pilots to take a timeout. There were four ties and eight lead changes in the duration of the set. Djurdjina Milovic, the 5-foot 8-inch junior setter, tied the game at nine apiece with a huge play at the net. A cross-court kill from Savoca and an error from Pacific gave the Pilots a 14-13 lead. After a 15-15 tie, Pacific took control. The Tigers went on another four point run to make 19-15, topped off with a service ace. Portland had a sliver of hope after another Savoca kill and a block that brought their deficit to 24-21, but the Tigers managed to win the set 25-21, and took a commanding 2-0 lead going into the break.
The Pilots came out hot in set three. A huge block, followed by a service ace from Milovic, sparked a 6-2 run for Portland out the jump. Portland never trailed in the set, dominating defensively with eight blocks. The home team cruised to a comfortable 25-16 win in the third.
Liger, Markwith and Savoca combined for 27 kills going into the fourth set.
Set four proved to be the closest set with 14 ties and four lead changes. Savoca continued her strong play with three early kills, but Pacific held a one point advantage, 4-3. Strong blocking by the Pilots continued in the set, highlighted by a huge block by Troutman to tie things at 12-12. The Tigers took the slight edge midway through, but errors gave the Pilots a chance and resulted in another tie at 20. A couple of kills by Troutman fired up the home team and the Chiles crowd, but Pacific would go on to take the set and match at 25-23.
The Pilots (11-3, 1-1 WCC) will head south to California for their next two conference games. They play Santa Clara (10-4, 1-1 WCC) on Thursday and San Francisco (13-2, 0-2 WCC) on Saturday.
Ben Arthur is a sports reporter for The Beacon. He can be reached by email at arthur17@up.edu or Twitter @KingArthur_425.
