Aug. 29, 2008

Box Score

MISSOULA, Mont. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team opened its 2008 season with a 3-0 sweep over Bradley University at the University of Montana Tournament Friday afternoon. The Zags, who also swept their season opener a season ago, combined for 42 kills and had a solid .345 hitting percentage in the 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 victory.

Junior Layne Brosky and sophomore Caitlin Cozad led the way for Gonzaga, both finishing the match hitting over .600. Brosky had eight kills and only one error in 11 attempts for a match-high .636 hitting percentage, while Cozad also had eight kills and no errors on 13 total attempts for a .615 attacking percentage.

Senior Elaina Renius dominated both offensively and defensively for the Bulldogs. The middle blocker finished with a match-high 12 kills and added three block assists. The 12 kills was Renius' 29th double-digit kill performance of her career.

Senior Paige Dillingham collected a match-high 13 digs for Gonzaga in her first career start as the Zags libero. Dillingham also served up two aces and had one assist for GU.

Zag freshman Denise Van de Mortel played well in her first collegiate match. The Bulldog starting setter closed out the contest dishing out 35 assists, and also had four digs, two kills and two blocks.

Three other Gonzaga players saw their first collegiate action against Bradley. Freshman Laura Day played in all three sets as a defensive specialist, finishing the match with four digs and one service ace. Freshman Kaprina Goodwin and sophomore Kelsey Bashaw, who was injured last season, both played in one set for the Bulldogs.

The Zags limited the Braves to just 28 team kills and a dismal .051 hitting percentage. Megan Schmidt and Melissa Collins both finished the match with six kills for Bradley.

Gonzaga ended the match with a 35-30 advantage in digs and a 6-3 edge in team blocks.

GU will be back in action later tonight when its faces Montana in its second of four matches at the Montana Tournament. The Bulldogs will match-up with the host Grizzlies at 7 p.m.

Note: The number of points to win a set has been reduced from 30 to 25 this season.