SAN BRUNO, Calif. - After the first week of conference play in West Coast Conference Volleyball action, four teams are 2-0 - San Diego, Oregon State, Washington State and Portland. 

All of this week's matches can be viewed on ESPN+.

This Week
Contests this week start on Thursday night. Among the teams unbeaten in conference play, Washington State heads to Seattle U, while Oregon State and San Diego both head up to the Bay Area. The Beavers will play at Santa Clara while the Toreros are at Saint Mary's. In another Bay Area match, San Francisco hosts Pepperdine. Pacific is at home against LMU.

On Saturday. Portland looks to remain perfect in conference play when the Pilots host Seattle U. USD and OSU remain in the Bay Area with the Toreros heading the Pacific and the Beavers trekking to USF. Two more Bay Area matches feature Santa Clara hosting Pepperdine and Saint Mary's hosting LMU. A battle in the Pacific Northwest will see Washington State host Gonzaga. 

300 to 3,000
Saint Mary's is going all out to get fans to attend Thursday's home opener against San Diego at the University Credit Union Pavilion. An initiative by first-year head coach Tyler Hildebrand to turn the average attendance at Saint Mary's home games from approximately 300 to around 3,000 begins on Thursday with a number of events on campus. In addition to free admission, the first 500 fans will get a free t-shirt, there will be 100 pizzas for fans to enjoy, a pregame event will be held at the 1928 Pub on campus and a DJ will play outside the UCU Pavilion. It is also alumni weekend as the campus welcomes back all Gaels for the match featuring the Gaels against the 2-0 (conference play) Toreros. 

Hildebrand arrives in Moraga after compiling an impressive collegiate and Olympic resume. Most recently, Hildebrand served as the associate head coach at USC following a two-year stint at his alma mater Long Beach State. He also served on staff at perennial powerhouse Nebraska for three seasons, helping the Cornhuskers reach the NCAA regional final all three campaigns he spent there, including the 2017 NCAA Champion squad. The atmosphere present at Nebraska home games is partially where Hildebrand's motivation lies in trying to create the same environment at Saint Mary's starting on Thursday.  

"I coached at Nebraska for a number of years, and ask anyone who has played at Nebraska if fans matter," Hildebrand said. "But the other standpoint is what about the student-athletes who are out there fighting every day? Right now, we're fighting for our life, doing so many good things and trying to commit to this, and we're 2-11 and we've been playing in front of nobody on the road. So, we're sacrificing and battling a lot, and it's like [in reference to fans in attendance] thank you for coming here and wanting us to succeed and feeling your energy."

Last Week
In the first week of conference play, San Diego went up against two Southern California rivals and beat them both. First, the Toreros won in four sets in Malibu over Pepperdine. Then on Saturday, USD came roaring back to beat LMU at home in five sets. The Lions had previously defeated Seattle U in Thursday's conference opener to go 1-1 in the opening week. The Waves got in the win column on Saturday with a sweep at home over Seattle U. 

Portland swept Pacific in the conference opener before fending off a tough Saint Mary's squad in five sets to go 2-0 in the first week. In similar fashion, Washington State swept San Francisco on Thursday at home before holding off Santa Clara, 3-2, on Saturday. 

Oregon State took care of business in four sets over Saint Mary's before sweeping Pacific on Saturday. 

Santa Clara and Gonzaga both went 1-1 last week with the Broncos beating the Bulldogs in five sets last Thursday. GU got in the win column at home on Saturday with a five-set win over the Dons. 

Stat Leaders
Pacific ranks tied for 22nd in the country in aces per set. 

Individually, WSU's Lucie Blazkova is No. 15 in hitting percentage (.436) and USD's Nemo Beach is No. 26 in points (235.5). Beach's 199 kills currently pace the West Coast Conference, as well. 

Santa Clara boasts two category leaders with Macy Hinshaw leading the way in assists (9.72) and Lexi Trapani first in digs (195).

Catch West Coast Conference Volleyball On ESPNU
The Oct. 30 match between LMU and Pepperdine at 7 p.m. from Malibu can be seen on ESPNU.