Oct. 17, 2003

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University volleyball team nearly shocked the volleyball world on Friday night as the underdog Bulldogs (3-18, 0-5) fell just five points short of upsetting No. 6 Pepperdine University in West Coast Conference volleyball action at Martin Centre. The Waves (14-2, 4-0 WCC) broke away from ties in game four and five to defeat GU, 30-32, 30-17, 25-30, 30-28, 15-12 to win their 32nd straight WCC match and their 13th straight over the Bulldogs.

In game number one Gonzaga held two-time WCC Player of the Year Katie Wilkins to just one kill as the Bulldogs collected 15 kills in the 32-30 win. With the scored tied at 28, Gonzaga twice pulled away to game point before finally putting the game away with a Christina Davis kill. Four GU players had four kills including Davis.

In the second game the Waves offense got on track on they hammered down 15 kills with Wilkins leading the way with seven in the game. Gonzaga was prone to attack errors as they registered a negative .044 attack percentage in the second game while Pepperdine clicked for a .256 mark.

Gonzaga found an offensive rhythm in the third game as setter Emilee Gihring repeatedly fed the ball to senior middle blocker Abby Cullen. Cullen would get seven of her match-high 23 kills during the third game while Gihring passed out 12 assists in the win. The Bulldogs hit .304 in that match to pull ahead two games to one. Gihring would finish the match with 54 assists. Waves setter Melissa Mehlhorn had 67.

The four-game went back and forth with the two teams battling to a 28-28 tie. Waves senior Lyndsey Hache' then took the game into her own hands as she contributed to an assisted block to put Pepperdine up 29-28 and then hammered down the game winner to send the match to a decisive game five. Pepperdine connected for a match-best .356 attack clip while Gonzaga finished the game at .304

In the final game Pepperdine erupted to a 8-4 lead before Gonzaga was able to battle back and tie the match behind four straight service points by Lauren Armas. The two teams traded points with the Bulldogs taking a 12-11 lead. Pepperdine rolled off four straight points to pick up the win with Katy Daly getting back-to-back kills to close out the Bulldogs upset bid.

Heather Signor etched her name in the Gonzaga record book with a match-high 28 digs as six Gonzaga players reached double figures with Gonzaga finishing with 104 team digs. The 28 digs were the fifth best single-match effort in Gonzaga history. Christina Davis finished with 18 digs behind Signor. Christina Hinds had 24 digs for Pepperdine with Melissa Mehlhorn adding 21 digs towards Pepperdine's total of 94.

Cullen led all players with 23 kills won 49 attacks with a .327 attack percentage. Davis had 18 kills and Lauren Armas 15 for Gonzaga as the Bulldogs pushed Pepperdine to more than three games for the first time since 1998 when the Waves knocked off GU in four.

Breegan Mulligan had a quiet 19 kills to lead Pepperdine while Katie Wilkins added 18. Lyndsey Hache' collected a double-double for Pepperdine with 13 kills and 13 blocks, 12 of them assisted. Abby Cullen was the Bulldogs top blocker with nine blocks, eight assisted.

Gonzaga hosts No. 19 Loyola Marymount on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Martin Centre. The Lions were a 3-0 winner over Portland on Friday. Pepperdine heads to Portland before returning to Malibu.