STOCKTON, Calif. – A tough night attacking put the Pacific volleyball in an early hole it was ultimately unable to climb out of, falling in three sets (22-25, 16-25, 25-27) to the Portland Pilots on Thursday night at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

Pacific (7-12, 1-7 WCC) endured its least efficient night offensively, swinging for a season low .031 as a team. However, those inefficiencies did not affect senior Logan Blutreich, who led all student-athletes with ten kills on 23 attacks for a .261 hitting percentage. Right behind Blutreich was freshman Mazi Smith who finished just one kill shy of her second career double digit performance.

Where the offense was unable to build any momentum, the same could not be said of Pacific's defense, which held Portland (10-9, 5-3 WCC) to a .175 team hitting percentage and no student-athletes with more than six kills individually. A large force behind the defensive success was graduate Valentina Varani, who followed up her three solo block performance last time out with three more solo blocks tonight and a block assist to bring her season total to 74 total blocks. With now 19 solo blocks on the season, Varani is tied for second most in the WCC and the 74 blocks puts her fourth in the conference.

Senior Jayhlin Swain was another reason for the defensive showcase, picking up a match high 14 digs.

Sophomore Alyson Cox returned from a one-match absence to lead the Tigers with 14 assists.

Pacific's next opportunity to rebound will be on Saturday when the team welcomes Pepperdine to Stockton. First ball from the Alex G. Spanos Center is slated for noon and can be seen on ESPN+.

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