Oct. 4, 2008

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball squad played tough-as-nails against the University of San Francisco Saturday afternoon but dropped a 3-1 decision to the Dons in its second West Coast Conference matchup of the week.

The Bulldogs (6-11, 0-2 WCC) regrouped after falling behind 2-0 (25-20, 25-22) to win the third set 25-19. The Zags led for most of set four, but the Dons (12-4, 2-0 WCC) pulled out a late surge and were able to squeak out a 27-25 victory to earn the four-set win.

"The players really responded after the second set," said coach Kip Yoshimura. "We challenged the players in the locker room after set two and they truly responded. We controlled a lot of the match, but just couldn't pull it out.

"Layne Brosky and Paige Dillingham both had extraordinary matches, both offensively and defensively for us."

Brosky, a junior, led the way for Gonzaga, finishing with a career-tying and match-high 17 kills along with a .393 hitting percentage. The left handed hitter, whose previous best this season was 15 at Washington State University Sept. 10, tied a career-high mark in kills that she set the opening weekend of her freshman campaign, two seasons ago. She last had 17 kills against North Dakota State University Aug. 26, 2006; it was Brosky's third match in a Bulldog uniform.

Dillingham, on the other hand, collected her 13th double-figure dig performance of the season. The senior finished with a match-high 17 digs and also served up two aces.

Also strong for Gonzaga was senior Elaina Renius and junior Michelle Boevers who had 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Renius also added five digs, four blocks and one service ace in the setback.

Freshman Denise Van de Mortel closed out the match passing out 49 assists as the Bulldogs tallied 56 total team kills and had a .236 attacking clip. Van de Mortel added three digs, two kills and two blocks for Gonzaga.

San Francisco was led by both Carly Babin and Alix Gombos. Babin finished with a team-high 15 kills, along with six blocks, while Gombos had 13 kills and five blocks.

Babin and Gombos also were the two players who kept the Bulldogs from pushing the match to the decisive fifth set. Tied 25-25 in the fourth set, Babin had her 15th kill of the match off an assist by Alaina Sully to give USF the one-point lead. Gambos and Addie Webster then combined to block Brosky's kill attempt to wrap up the tense fourth set.

Gonzaga will open the home portion of its West Coast Conference schedule when it welcomes both Saint Mary's College and Santa Clara University to the Martin Centre. The Bulldogs will play the Gaels on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. and face off against the Broncos on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 12:30 p.m.