Oct. 2, 2004

Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Gonzaga University Bulldogs had upset on the mind on Friday night as they opened West Coast Conference play at No. 13 Santa Clara University. Selected to finish last in the preseason WCC coaches poll Gonzaga pushed the Broncos to the limit before falling in five games to the only team currently ranked in the conference. SCU (10-2, 1-0 WCC) won the final two games to prevail 30-23, 28-30, 24-30, 30-23, 15-6 over Gonzaga (4-10, 0-1 WCC).

Gonzaga was able to take advantage of some sloppy play by the Broncos in games two and three as SCU has 24 attack errors compared to just 12 miscues for the Bulldogs offense. Gonzaga lost the first game despite combining for their highest attack percentage of the night with a .333 attack clip. Gonzaga was efficient in games two and three picking up wins behind solid hitting by Christina Davis and Lacey Bell. Davis finished with 14 kills while Bell added 13 with only four errors on 31 attack attempts.

Santa Clara was able to find the offensive stroke in games four and five as they hammered down 20 kills in game four and nine kills in game five. Toni Muratore and Annalisa Muratore each finished with 20 kills to pace the Broncos offense that have five players finish with double-figure kills. Santa Clara was able to finish with 29 more kills than Gonzaga holding an 86-57 advantage. Kim McGiven finished with 15 kills while Cassie Perret and Anna Cmaylo each contributed 11.

The match proved to be a defensive battle at the net with both teams posting big block numbers. Gonzaga finished with 36 blocks while Santa Clara had 26. Freshman Briawna Mueller had 10 block assists, marking the second time this season that she has finished with 10 block assists. Mueller combined for 12 total blocks earlier this season with 2 solos during a win over Portland State. Lauren Armas added eight blocks with one solo while Emilee Gihring had seven block assists. Cmaylo was the Broncos top blocker with nine block assists.

The match marks the second time in two seasons that Gonzaga has pushed a nationally ranked team to five games only to fall short. Last season Pepperdine held off the Bulldogs when they were ranked sixth in the nation. GU now travels to San Diego for a Saturday night WCC match before returning home to face Saint Mary's and San Francisco next weekend.