Stockton, Calif. - On a night the Tigers honored those who protect and serve our nation, Pacific put on a show for those in attendance at the Alex G. Spanos Center with a 3-0 sweep of visiting Portland on Thursday night. Led by junior Lexi Elman's 17 kill night, the Tigers improved to 16-11 on the year and 7-9 in WCC play while the Pilots fell to 15-13 overall and 5-11 in conference play.

Set scores for the match were: 25-9, 25-16, 25-22.

In what finished as one of their fast wins of the 2015 season, the Tigers got off to a grand start to their Thursday night showdown with the Pilots as Pacific held Portland to just nine points in the opening set, marking their second-largest single-set victory of the season and largest margin of victory in a WCC match in three years. The Tigers opened with a 5-0 run before putting the set away just 15 points in, scoring eight-straight points after the Pilots finally got on the board. For Pacific the set was a balance of both unstoppable offense and an impenetrable defense to dominate the opening set. Led by Elman who had six kills on 11 attacks, the Tigers hit .432 as a team in the opening stanza while also holding the Pilots to just .027 hitting after posting 23 digs and 3.0 blocks. 

The second set for the Tigers proved to be of little difference from the opening frame as the Tigers' offense continued to be nearly unstoppable as Pacific put down nine of its first 10 attacks and went without an error until the 17th swing of the set. The almost flawless attack helped cushion an uncharacteristically shaky service game that saw the Tigers post eight service errors which allowed the Pilots to hang around despite coming up with just two kills in the set. Despite the mistakes behind the line, the Tigers' victory in the set was never in doubt as Pacific pulled off a 6-2 run to close things out after the Pilots had closed to within five at 19-14. Fittingly, it was Elman and senior Holland Crenshaw who put the set away with back-to-back kills as the duo each posted five kills in the set with Crenshaw doing her damage on just six attacks.

Leading by two sets, the Tigers took their foot off the gas early in the third which allowed the Pilots to get their block set to the tune of 6.0 team blocks in the third frame. With the Pilots slowing the Tigers' offense down the two teams traded points throughout the early going of the frame before Pacific was able to take a 14-11 lead behind four kills from four separate Tiger attackers. Despite the lead the Tigers were not able to pull away as the Pilots mounted their first and only sustained rally of the night, scoring four-straight points, two coming off the block to take the lead 17-16. From there it would be a battle to see which team could score successive points to claim the set, a battle the Tigers would win late as junior Alicja Wilk, Elman, and sophomore Maycie LaBass each notched a kill on the scoreboard to break a 20-20 tie and give the Tigers the cushion they would need to close out the match. In addition to the offense, the Tigers' backline defense stepped up once again as Pacific came up with 27 digs with sophomore Katrin Gotterba tallying six while five other Pacific players recorded at least three in the set.

Overall, the night was dominated by Elman as she notched 17 kills to go with 12 digs and four aces to post her 14th double-double of the season. Wilk ended the contest with 11 kills on .667 hitting while Crenshaw finished with 10 kills on .363 hitting. Defensively, four Tigers posted double-digit kills led by Gotterba and senior Mia Feiner who each posted 13 in the match. As a team, the Tigers outhit the Pilots, .307-to-.077.

No Pilot scored more than four kills in the match as three Portland attackers posted four kills. 

The Tigers will look to keep their recent success on the court going on Saturday, Nov. 21 when they seek revenge against a Gonzaga team that defeated Pacific, 3-1, to start the WCC season in early September. The match is scheduled for 12:00 pm.