Nov. 14, 2004

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - On senior night at Gonzaga University the Bulldogs (4-23, 0-13 WCC) jumped out to early leads in all three games but could not hold off late Pepperdine University rallies as the Waves picked up a 3-0 West Coast Conference volleyball win at Martin Centre. Pepperdine (10-13, 7-5 WCC) won the match 30-25, 30-25, 30-26 to sweep the season series against Gonzaga.

In game one Gonzaga jumped out to a 16-11 lead only to watch Pepperdine tie the match at 18-18 and go on for the 30-25 win. The Bulldogs held a four-point advantage even later in game two as they had a 23-19 lead before the Waves knotted the score at 25-25 before scoring the final five points. In the final game Gonzaga was up 25-21 before Pepperdine went on a 9-1 run to sweep the match.

"Our team played with a lot of energy tonight as we jumped out to early leads in all three games," stated Gonzaga head coach Kip Yoshimura. "We had a good effort; unfortunately we didn't have the stamina to put away a good Pepperdine. I was really proud of the way our team played as they tried to give our seniors a big win to end their home WCC careers."

Gonzaga's three departing seniors all played big roles on the night with senior setter Emilee Gihring playing hard all over the floor. In addition to passing out 27 assists, Gihring finished with five kills, 12 digs and seven blocks. Fellow seniors Lauren Armas and Rebecca Wood also got into the act with Armas adding five kills, two aces and four blocks. Wood ended the match with four kills. Freshman Becky Jones was the Bulldogs top attack with seven kills while Jessica Herrera had a team-high 19 digs.

Pepperdine was led by Kristen Shultz with 16 kills on 42 attacks while Kristin McClune chipped in 10. The Waves big front line dominated play at the net with 24 team blocks. Lecca Roberts had seven blocks with two solos while Sophia Milo had five block assists.

Gonzaga will play its final home match on Monday night with a non-conference match against the University of Montana at 6 p.m. at Martin Centre. The Bulldogs then travel to the University of Portland for their final match of the season next Saturday. In addition to honoring Gihring, Armas and Wood prior to the match, Gonzaga also honored senior Christina Davis whose career was shortened earlier this season with a knee injury in the opening WCC match at Santa Clara University. Davis capped her career ranking fourth on the Bulldogs career kills list.