Gonzaga University
6-10, 2-1WCC
Loyola Marymount
9-9, 0-4WCC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMU LIONS | 21 | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| GONZAGA BULLDOGS | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Women's Volleyball Sweeps Loyola Marymount
10/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 10, 2009
SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team earned a 3-0 sweep over Loyola Marymount University in a West Coast Conference match-up Saturday afternoon at the Martin Centre. The senior trio of Michelle Boevers, Emily Johnson and Layne Brosky combined for 28 of Gonzaga's 40 kills in the match to help the Zags defeat the Lions 25-21, 25-21, 25-21.
The win improved the Bulldogs WCC record to 2-1 on the year and overall mark to 6-10. It is the first time since the 1997 season Gonzaga opened its WCC slate with a 2-1 record. In 1997, the Zags dropped their WCC opening match 3-0 to San Diego, but bounced back with a 3-2 win over San Francisco and a 3-0 sweep of Portland.
"How can I be disappointed in opening conference winning two and playing extremely well in the only one we lost," stated first-year head coach Dave Gantt. "I give a lot of kudos to our players."
The Lions dropped to 0-4 in conference and 9-9 overall.
"The players who are seeing the court are gelling extremely well," Gantt said. "Loyola Marymount kept us off balance in serve and receive but, despite that, we played pretty good out of system today. We had big swings and big plays made when not passing perfectly to the setter. We were finally able to run the middle enough that when we did get a good pass, the outside became effective for us. You can see that just in the numbers that Michelle and Emily put up for us."
The determination of the Bulldog seniors truly showed in the match. After playing toe-to-toe with Pepperdine University on Thursday, but falling 3-0, they each came out with a no-lose attitude. Boevers tallied a match-tying high 12 kills and had a smoking .500 hitting clip, along with six block assists, three service aces and three digs in the victory. Johnson registered her first double-double of the season with 10 kills and a team-high 10 digs. The outside hitter, who was named Player of the Match, also added three block assists. Brosky had six kills in win, and added four block assists, one solo block and two digs.
Kelsey Bashaw and Denise Van de Mortel combined for 32 of the Bulldogs 36 assists.
"There are two things to tune into right now. First is how Kelsey and Denise are running our offense. And second is how in each match we are finding who to go to. Layne was that player against Pepperdine and today it was Michelle and Johnson," explained Gantt.
Gonzaga, who had 40 kills and 15 errors on 101 total attempts, closed out the match hitting .248. The Zags best hitting performance was in set two when they combined for 13 kills, only three errors, on 24 attempts for a .417 attacking clip.
The Bulldogs and Lions mirrored each other in most ways during the match. Loyola Marymount, like Gonzaga, finished with 40 kills. LMU though, had 21 errors on 104 attempts for .183 hitting percentage. Both teams finished with 38 digs.
What made the difference in the match was blocking for the Bulldogs. The Zags ended the match with 13.5 total blocks while the Lions blocked only five. Besides Boevers, Brosky and Johnson, junior Caitlin Cozad and sophomore Kaprina Goodwin were strong above the net. Cozad, who leads the WCC in total blocks, finished with five block assists, while Goodwin also had five block assists along with one solo block.
Loyola Marymount was led by Lauren DeGrandmont and Alaina Bergsma who had 12 and 10 kills, respectively.
Gonzaga returns to action Thursday, Oct. 15 when it plays at the University of San Francisco. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
