University of San Francisco (12-12, 5-7 WCC)
at Portland (5-17, 0-11 WCC)
Thursday, Nov. 5 | 7 p.m. | Chiles Center
Live stream: portlandpilots.com | Live stats: usfstats.com

at Gonzaga (15-8, 5-6 WCC)
Saturday, Nov. 7 | 12 p.m. | Martin Centre
Live stream: theW.tv | Live stats: usfstats.com

#WeAreSF

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San Francisco volleyball aims to swing through the Pacific Northwest with a pair of victories. Despite a tough 1-8 road record on the year, the Dons seek their seventh straight win over Portland Thursday night before traveling to Spokane seeking to stop a three-match losing streak to the Bulldogs in a jockey for position in the West Coast Conference.

What 2 Watch 4

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San Francisco's Valentina Zaloznik continues to be a dominant force for the Dons in her senior season, compiling 274 kills on .331 hitting and a team-high 105 blocks. Currently, her total blocks figure stands at 68th in NCAA Division I volleyball.

Offensively, Katarina Pilepic leads the squad in kills with 315 to go with 62 total blocks. Kiara McKibben took over primary setting duties in 2014 and has assisted on 831 scoring plays for the Dons, an average of 9.23 assists per set. 

Freshman Kim Gutierrez is leading the defensive charge, amassing 416 digs. Nationally, Gutierrez' 4.57 digs per set is ranked 73rd in the country. As a team, USF's 1,406 total digs leads the WCC.

Know the Foe

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Portland enters the weekend still looking for its elusive first win in WCC play with a 5-17 overall record and an 0-11 mark in conference action. The Pilots are paced by Emily Liger's 329 total kills and a .241 hitting percentage. Setting duties go the duo of Djurdjina Milovic (6.43 a/s) and Ali Koumelis (5.03 a/s). Katie Mardesich anchors the defense with 357 digs, and two others (Liger, Lindburg) have at least 200 digs to their tally. Katie Sullivan has blocked 81 attacks on the season , or 0.98 per set, for the Pilots

In the first meeting with the Dons, the Pilots jumped out to the lead after taking the first set 27-25. The teams jostled back and forth in the next two before USF rolled off wins in the fourth and fifth to hang on to the home victory. Katarina Pilepic notched a season-high 26 kills and nine digs to pave the way to the win.

Gonzaga, USF's Saturday foe, stands at 18-3 (9-1 WCC) entering the weekend's contests. Savannah Blinn continues to shine for the Gonzaga offense, ranking first in the league and seventh in the nation in kills per set at 4.90 to lead the team. She also ranks first in the league and eighth in the nation in points per set at 5.37. As an offensive unit, the Bulldogs lead the WCC with 14.22 kills per set. Setter Lauren Joseph is third in the league with 10.38 assist per set and libero Morgan Douglass is ninth at 3.29 digs per set.

In the first season meeting with the Bulldogs, USF picked up victories in the first and third sets, but could not manage to claim victory. The match stands as one of two home losses on the year thus far for USF.

USF Versus

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All-time vs. Pilots: 37-23 • 14-13 in Portland
Current streak: W6 
Last meeting: 10/11/14 (H) • W, 3-2; 25-27, 26-24, 24-26, 25-11, 15-13

All-time vs. Bulldogs: 27-28 • 12-16 away
Current streak: L3
Last meeting: 10/09/14 (H) • L, 2-3; 25-23, 17-25, 25-17, 19-25, 9-15

Records Watch

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Senior Valentina Zaloznik is racing up the record books in myriad categories:
  3.    Total Blocks    405
  7.    Solo Blocks    76
  7.      Kills    1117
  7.      Aces    106

Single-season record books
  8.    Valentina Zaloznik    .331 pct.
  10.     Kim Gutierrez    416 digs
*Zaloznik currently owns the sixth- and eighth-best season attack percentages (.341 - '13; .326 - '12)

Single-match records
After compiling 13 kills on 14 attempts with no errors, or .929, in USF's sweep of Fordham on Aug. 30, Zaloznik now owns the single-match record for hitting percentage. 

Last Time Out

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After a three-set sweep of San Diego to start the week, USF succumbed to then-No. 11 BYU in straight sets at War Memorial Gym, just the second home loss of the season. The Dons and Cougars played hotly-contested first and second sets before BYU's blocking defense came alive in the third to take the win. USF was paced by 12 kills by Anja Segota, the only Don to register double-digit kill numbers in the match.

A Look Ahead

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After the final true road trip of the season, USF heads back to the friendly confines of War Memorial Gym to take on Southern California foes Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine. The Dons are looking for the season sweep of the Waves Thursday at 7 p.m.

Get Connected

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Fans can keep up on the latest in USF Athletics in a variety of ways. Follow USF Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ DonsAthletics
Follow USF volleyball on Facebook at www.facebook.com/University.of.SanFrancisco.Volleyball
Check out video of the Dons in action at www.youtube.com/usfdonsathletics