University of San Francisco Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco volleyball team leaves the Bay Area this week for the first time in West Coast Conference play, as it heads to the Pacific Northwest for two matches against Portland on Thursday and Gonzaga on Saturday.
 
MATCH 16 INFORMATION
Date/Time: Thursday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m.
Opponent: Portland
Site: Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
Live video: https://bit.ly/2DVZaS0
Live stats: https://bit.ly/2P9wfvd
 
MATCH 17 INFORMATION
Date/Time: Saturday, Oct. 6, Noon
Opponent: Gonzaga
Site: Spokane, Wash. (Martin Centre)
Live video: https://bit.ly/2zOQ2KV
Live stats: https://bit.ly/2RoF85y
 
THE WEEKEND DIG
 
San Francisco (8-7, 1-3 WCC) saw its six-match winning streak come to an end last week with three defeats across five days. The Dons were competitive in all three matches, winning sets at Saint Mary's and versus Pepperdine, while also pushing Loyola Marymount to extra points in the first set on Saturday.
 
After going undefeated in non-conference play and starting the season with a 12-match winning streak, Portland (12-4, 0-4 WCC) has lost four matches in a row, three by sweeps. The Pilots already have five different players with 100 or more kills, and they have outhit their opponents by 37 percentage points this season (.264 to .227). Cali Thompson has served as Portland's lone setter this season and has collected 643 assists, nearly 11 per set (10.90).
 
Gonzaga has followed a similar recent trend as USF, winning their WCC opener before losing their last three matches. Sarah Penner has been the Bulldogs' best attacker with a team-high 158 kills (2.93 per set). Jenna Kuehn leads the team in assists (297, 6.19 per set) and is second in service aces (10).
 
STEPPING UP
 
Freshman McKenna Marshall stepped up last weekend to fill some holes on the Dons' attack, and she performed solidly. On Thursday versus Pepperdine, she tallied a season-best and team-high 18 kills. She was only one dig short of her first career double-double with a season-high nine digs against the Waves. Saturday she again led the team with nine kills against Loyola Marymount. All of this in just her ninth and 10th collegiate career matches.
 
CLIMBING UP THE CAREER LIST
Sophomore setter Erin Anthony already eclipsed 1,000 career assists on Sept. 1 at Fresno State, and last weekend she surpassed 1,200 career assists. She is the team's leading setter this season with 334 assists (5.76 per set) and also leads the team with 17 service aces. She is rapidly approaching the all-time career top-10 list for assists at San Francisco still with 2 1/2 seasons to go in her career. No. 10 is Alaina Sully (2007-10) with 1,465.
 
COMING UP
 
The Dons return home next week for two WCC matches. USF hosts the No. 1 team in the country – undefeated BYU – at 7 p.m. on Oct. 11. San Diego then comes to War Memorial at Sobrato Center at noon on Oct. 13. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.