2014 Volleyball

Well, the 2014 the Pilots Volleyball season begins on August 29th in Waco, but it would appear Coach Crouch and his staff would like to develop the squad on the road before introducing them to the home "crowd" in the Chiles Center on October 2nd.

No non-league games at home this year.....first matches at home are against perennial powers LMU and PU after having to play USD and BYU on the road to start WCC play.

Full schedule here: http://portlandpilots.com/schedule.aspx?path=wvball&tab=schedule2

I had the pleasure of meeting Coach Crouch recently... seems like a good guy.  He certainly knows how to put together a coaching staff, as well, with Nellie (Spicer) Coleman (3-time All-American at UCLA, 5-year member of the USA National Team and professional player) and Nate Ngo (former Assistant at powerhouse Nebraska, previous Technical Coordinator for the US Women's National Team and Junior National Team).

Rumor has it the Coaching staff has been turning a lot of heads on the recruiting trail, which should start to pay dividends with next year's incoming class.

Having an All-American setter and statistician on your staff is not too shabby!!  I think the UP volleyball program has a chance to become a force in the conference (and the WCC is no slouch in volleyball) with this coaching staff, the recently updated locker rooms/training areas and the new practice facilities in the Beauchamp Center.

I just wish they played a home match before 10/2.   

Holy Moly!!  I was aware UP won twice last weekend, but I had no idea:

• The Pilots snapped a 28-match losing streak in their win over Abilene Christian. Their previous win came on Nov. 15, 2012 with a conference road win at Gonzaga.
• Portland defeated Baylor in straight sets to bring their record to 2-1 and claim the Baylor Invitational championship.
• Seniors Katie Mardesich and Emily Liger received defensive and offensive MVP recogntion and made the all-tournament team.
• Brent Crouch earned his first win as head coach of the Pilots.
• The 2-1 start is the best start to a season since 2007.

The ladies are off to Sacramento to take on San Jose St. and UC Davis this weekend....can they continue to gain more confidence and start expecting to win?  I sure hope so!

http://portlandpilots.com/news/2014/9/2/VB_0902140122.aspx

ekrauss wrote:Here's an interesting trivia fact.   As of September 26, the Pilot Volleyball team has more wins than the men's and women's soccer teams combined.  Bet that's the first time in a long time that you could say that about the victory totals of those respective teams--one month into the fall athletic season.

....and they have yet to play at home!

It's going to be tough winning any more matches for awhile as they have started the WCC season playing the best teams in the conference....but you've got to love the turnaround the program appears to be making.

First home games are against two very good teams, LMU and PU, on October 2nd and 4th at 7PM and 1PM.

Finally!!

Watched the last set of tonight's match as the Pilots Volleyball Team won their first WCC match in two seasons, beating USF in five sets.

It was only the second match I've watched this season, and I have to admit they were no match for Pacific the last time I saw them, but all credit to the ladies and their coaching staff for finally pulling out a win.

I know first year coach, Brent Crouch, found the cupboard pretty bare when he arrived at UP this season....hopefully this win will at least give the team some confidence for the last seven games of this year and moving into next season.

It's often overlooked that volleyball student-athletes are on FULL scholarship at UP....it will be good to see the team become competitive in the coming years.

With most of the attention elsewhere, it was a good evening to attend "Senior Night" for the volleyballers at the Chiles Center last evening.....and the Pilots won!

UP Athletics wrote:The Portland Pilots swept the Seattle University Redhawks on senior night at the Chiles Center. Honored before the match were Portland's three seniors Bea Loper, Katie Mardesich, and Jacky Rodriguez who all end their careers on a high note with the teams seventh win of the season.

Portland (7-23, 1-17 WCC) beat Seattle (14-17, 8-6 WAC) with set scores of 25-19, 25-14, 25-19.