Box Score Sept. 5, 2008
Box Score
SEATTLE, Wash. - Seniors Paige Dillingham and Elaina Renius both helped the Gonzaga University women's volleyball team get back on the winning track Friday evening. Dillingham collected a career-high 26 digs, while Renius had a career-high 12 blocks to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-1 victory over Boise State University. The Zags defeated the Broncos 25-18, 22-25, 25-12, 26-24 to close out the Northwest Challenge hosted by the University of Washington.
Gonzaga broke a five-match losing streak with the victory over Boise State and now holds a 2-5 record. The Broncos, on the other hand, are still looking for their first victory of the season after beginning the year 0-6.
Renius and Dillingham both had extraordinary nights for Gonzaga. Along with her 12 blocks, Renius also added a season-best 17 kills, along with three digs and two service aces. Her 12 blocks, eight of which were block assists, were the most blocks by an individual Zag player since former Bulldog Briawna Mueller collected 12 against San Francisco in 2005.
Along with being a personal-high, Dillingham's 26 digs was also the highest individual dig amount in a single-match since 2004 when Jessica Herrera also had 26 against the University of Portland.
Pacing Gonzaga to a much need victory was also Denise Van de Mortel who dished out 44 assists as Gonzaga closed out the match with 56 kills and a .277 attacking clip. Van de Mortel also added six kills, eight digs and six blocks for a well rounding evening.
Besides Renius, junior Michelle Boevers also had double-digit kills with 15.
The Bulldogs held the 70-61 edge in digs and a 17-10.5 advantage in blocks. Gonzaga served up eight aces and only had one ball handling error and two reception errors on the night.
Boise State was led by Alisha King and Lauren Hamm. King finished with a team-high 12 kills while Hamm had a team-high 19 digs.
Gonzaga will play at Washington State University Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. before hosting the Gonzaga Volleyball Tournament next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13.
