Volleyball swept 3-0 by San Diego in conference opener

By Jamison White | September 26, 2019 9:33pm
dsc5399
Junior Carey Williams calls out to her team before setting the ball for her teammate.
Media Credit: Brennan Crowder / The Beacon

The Portland Pilots dropped their fourth conference opener in a row, losing 3-0 to the San Diego Toreros on Thursday at the Chiles Center.

Redshirt senior Katie Barker prepares to serve the ball to San Diego. Portland lost 3-0.
by Brennan Crowder / The Beacon

Portland battled throughout the sets but repeatedly found themselves down against the Toreros. The Pilots were able to make pushes to bring both of the first two sets within three points before San Diego pulled away and won both sets with a score of 25-18.

Junior Shayla Hoeft blocks a ball from San Diego, scoring a point.
by Brennan Crowder / The Beacon

“Being consistent, we did things really well for 18 points,” Portland head coach Jeff Baxter said. “I don’t think we let them off the hook. San Diego is a good volleyball team and that is because they are consistently good. We saw that tonight and we can learn from that.”

Junior Liz Reich spikes the ball against San Diego.
by Brennan Crowder / The Beacon

Portland opens up conference play with arguably their two toughest games against San Diego and BYU, who is ranked ninth. Portland’s lineup skews young with two freshmen starting, and they’ll have to lean on junior middle backer Shayla Hoeft, who had eight kills in the loss to San Diego. Despite a rocky start, Portland remains confident.

“We cannot be timid coming out, we need to be confident that we can hang with these teams,” redshirt junior Emma Scanlan said. “We have this under our belts, we know the level of play we are going into and will be more comfortable.”

Junior Shayla Hoeft looks to where she will hit the ball as she jumps up for a spike.
by Brennan Crowder / The Beacon

Portland will be back in action as they once again play host as BYU comes to town on Saturday Sept. 28. The first set starts at noon.

Jamison White is a sports reporter at The Beacon. He can be reached at whitej20@up.edu.




Contact sports reporter Jamison White at whitej20@up.edu.
B