Pilots beat #11 BYU

Congratulations to Coach Crouch and the UP volleyball program for one of, if not the biggest win in the program's history!  The Pilots beat #11 ranked BYU tonight at the Chiles Center 3-2!!         (25-22, 25-27, 25-22, 17-25, 15-9)

With the win, the Pilots improve to 4-3 in WCC play...  I encourage everyone to check out a match or a live stream...  this program is turning around, has become competitive in the tough WCC and are entertaining to watch.  

Things do not get easier, as #5 USD visits Chiles Center on Saturday at 1pm. GO PILOTS!

It was a fabulous match--and no fluke. It was hotly contested and very evenly played. Three things stood out to me about the Pilots' play:

• Their blocking was amazing. I was sitting near a BYU fan who asked me "Is their blocking always this good?"
  
• Reghan Pukis' hitting was on fire.
  
• Serving: very few service errors, and quite a few aces--especially at key times in the match. The last five points of the match were off of serves from Hannah Troutman--two of which were aces.
  

It was also fun because BYU brought their normally large fan contingent, and there were many more Pilot fans in attendance than usual. There were more than 1,000 energetic fans at Chiles last night--I'd say, pretty evenly split.

Sorry I missed it. It is sure a big win for the team!

What a massive win for the program.  And to think this team was winless, what, only a few years ago?  Talk about transformation.  So nice to have all FIVE fall Pilot programs looking good.

Three years ago--when this year's seniors were frosh, the team went 0-27. Brent Crouch took over the next year. Four members of that team are still here--Markwith, Milovic, Sullivan and Gajda. What a difference for those players!