The Portland Pilots women’s beach volleyball team honored its seniors on April 15 at the Tom and Meg Names Family Foundation Beach Volleyball Courts, hosting a doubleheader against Corban University. The event recognized seven senior athletes: Jordan Bardouche, Elizabeth Ortiz, Valerie Bruk, Leonie Freytag, Elin Larsson, Michela Strati, and Hannah Debban.
Senior Day is an important tradition for college teams as it allows them to celebrate the contributions of graduating players. The matches also marked the final home games of the season for the Pilots.
In the first match of the day, Portland secured two straight-set victories. Leonie Freytag and Elin Larsson won their match in flight one with scores of 21-16 and 21-14. Jeryn Hildenbrand and Josie Povey added another point in flight five by defeating their opponents 21-18 and 21-16. However, Corban took wins in flights two and four before clinching the overall victory in a close three-set battle in flight three. Valerie Bruk and Elizabeth Ortiz pushed their match to a third set but ultimately fell short with scores of 19-21, 21-11, and 21-19.
During the second matchup, Bruk and Ortiz earned Portland’s only point by winning a hard-fought three-set contest (21-18, 18-21, 15-10) in flight three. Freytag and Larsson forced a decisive third set on court one but were edged out as Corban pulled away late to win that match as well as others for a final score of 4-1.
With Senior Day concluded at home, Portland will next travel to Seattle for the Alki Beach Invitational where they are scheduled to face Boise State University, University of Washington, Florida Atlantic University, and University of Oregon.
