Sept. 11, 2004

Oregon 3, Gonzaga 0
Gonzaga 3, Northern Colorado 2

PORTLAND - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team improved to 3-5 on the season after the Bulldogs split two matches on Saturday to finish second at the Portland State Volleyball Showcase. In the first match of the afternoon Gonzaga held on for a five-game victory over the University of Northern Colorado winning the match 30-21, 30-27, 25-30, 25-30 and 15-12. UNC fell to 3-3 with the loss. In their second match of the day Gonzaga dropped the championship match against the University of Oregon falling in three games. Oregon improved to 7-0 on the season winning 30-19, 30-25 and 30-23.

In the morning match senior outside hitter Christina Davis powered the GU offense for the second straight match as she hammered home 26 kills on 62 attack attempts. Lacey Bell followed Davis' lead finishing with 13 kills on 29 attacks. Gonzaga finished the match with 64 kills hitting .203 for the match. Senior Lauren Armas was deadly on the serve for Gonzaga dropping in six service aces, the seventh highest single-match total in school history.

After hitting over .300 in both games one and two the Bulldogs had to hang on to win pull out the match winning in five games. Jessica Herrera led the team with 17 digs while Alecia Douglas had 15 digs and Bell added 11 digs. Northern Colorado was led by Erin Deffenbaugh with 15 kills and 12 digs while Maggie Ledall contributed 14 kills and six block assists.

In what turned out to be the championship match of the tournament the Oregon Ducks hit a blistering .361 as they picked up the 3-0 win over the Bulldogs. Davis was again the Bulldogs top attacker finishing with 11 kills on 35 attacks. Herrera added 12 digs and Bell 10 digs for the Bulldogs. Gonzaga finished the match hitting .196 as a team with 40 total kills.

Oregon was led by Lauren Westendorf with 17 kills and a .556 attack percentage. Westendorf also dropped in three of Oregon's 10 service aces while Katie O'Neil also had three. Oregon won the battle at the nets finishing with 16 blocks compared to 11 for Gonzaga. Karen Waddington was UO's top blocker with six block assists. Freshman Briawna Mueller was the Zags top blocker with four block assists.

Gonzaga returns to action on Tuesday night with a non-conference match at Washington State University. Following that match the Bulldogs will travel to the Idaho State Volleyball Classic.