Gonzaga University
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's Shuts Down Gonzaga Volleyball 3-0
11/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2003
SPOKANE, Wash. - Saint Mary's College volleyball held a 10.5-8 team block advantage over the host Gonzaga University Bulldogs as the Gaels shut down Gonzaga 3-0 in West Coast Conference volleyball action in Spokane. Saint Mary's improved to 19-10, 5-6 in the West Coast Conference after posting a 30-23, 30-24, and 30-18 victory over Gonzaga (3-24, 0-11 WCC). The win gives the Gaels the season sweep over the Bulldogs after Saint Mary's won earlier this season in Moraga, 3-0.
"You have to give Saint Mary's credit for their play at the net," commented Bulldogs coach Kip Yoshimura. "We had some good sets from Emilee (Gihring) and Saint Mary's was able to get blocks on those attacks to score some big points."
Saint Mary's was led by Mandy Bible with five blocks while three other players had four block assists. Gonzaga was led by Abby Cullen with five blocks, one of them a solo.
The Gaels also won the offensive battle as they had 57 kills compared to just 34 for Gonzaga. Kaui Salzman and Jill Parmele were the big attackers for the Gaels with Salzman leading all players with 21 kills after getting nine during the game one 30-23 victory. Parmele had 18 kills and Christina Kirk finished with 9.
Junior outside hitter Christina Davis was the Bulldogs top offensive attacker with 12 kills on 33 attack attempts. Abby Cullen was the only other Gonzaga player near double figures as she finished with seven kills on 21 attempts.
"Christina (Davis) had a good performance for us during the first two games of tonight's match," Yoshimura added. "As the match progressed Saint Mary's did a good job of shutting her down and that is something we need to improve on, finishing strong in all games."
Gonzaga did win the digs battle with 39 digs compared to just 37 for Saint Mary's. Heather Signor had a team-high eight digs for Gonzaga while Lindsay Hardy led all players with nine digs for the Gaels.
The Bulldogs embark on their final road trip of the season next week when they travel to Los Angeles for WCC matches against nationally ranked Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine. Gonzaga nearly upset the Waves during their meeting in Spokane with a 3-2 set back. Gonzaga wraps up the 2003 season in two weeks when they host Portland in their final match of the season. Start time for that Nov. 22 match is set for 7 p.m. at Martin Centre.
