Gonzaga University
5-9
Eastern Washington
11-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GONZAGA BULLDOGS | 26 | 14 | 22 | 18 | 1 |
| Eastern Washington | 24 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Volleyball Battles Eastern Washington Tough; Falls 3-1
10/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 6, 2009
CHENEY, Wash. - As always the Gonzaga University versus Eastern Washington University women's volleyball match provided heart pounding excitement. The Eagles prevailed though Tuesday evening at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash., with a 3-1 victory over GU. The Bulldogs opened the match with a great 26-24 victory, but the Eagles rattled off a 25-14 win, followed by a close 25-22 victory and the final 25-18 win to capture the match.
Gonzaga had its two-match winning streak broken with the setback and are now 5-9 on the season. Eastern Washington improved to 11-5.
Eastern Washington opened set one by jumping out to a 6-0 advantage. A timeout by Zag head coach Dave Gantt seemed to wake Gonzaga up as it rattled off nine straight points right out of the timeout to stun the Eagles and take over the lead at 9-6. It was junior Allyson Powell serving that was the key to the run.
Senior Emily Johnson reentered the set at the right moment. With the set tied at 24-24, Johnson subbed in for freshman Terran Poindexter and proceeded to hammer home a monster of a kill to break the fifth tie of the set. Johnson and junior Caitlin Cozad followed her kill with a block of Chenoa Coviare's kill attempt to earn the extra point victory.
Gonzaga struggled to find its game in set two and Eastern Washington couldn't miss. The Bulldogs, who had a .290 hitting clip in the first set, hit just .031 in the second set, finishing with seven kills, and six errors on 32 total attempts. The Eagles, limited to a .290 attacking percentage in the opening set, was the complete opposite, tallying 16 kills, and only four errors, compared to nine in the first set, for a strong .353 hitting clip.
It was EWU's Hayley Hills who took over for the Eagles. The senior collected five kills, including three in a row to give Eastern Washington an early 4-1 lead, and had five digs and one solo block in the set that tied the match.
Hills again was the Eagle to go to in set four as she finished with another six kills, including the final kill of the set to secure the 25-22 victory. Unfortunately for the Zags, two late `out of rotation' calls hindered their comeback. Each time Gonzaga had cut Eastern Washington's lead to one, first at 19-18 and last at 21-20, but each time the out of rotation call gave the Eagles a two point advantage. Gonzaga could not overcome the final mishap and Eastern Washington scored four of the final six points to gain the victory.
Gonzaga battled as hard as it could in the fourth set but Eastern Washington was in a zone. The Eagles finished the winning set with a match-best .419 hitting percentage after collecting 17 kills, and only miss-hitting four balls, on 31 attempts. Hills had six of EWU's 17 kills and four of the 13 digs. Boevers had four of GU's 10 kills while Powell finished with three of the Zags nine digs.
Eastern Washington held the 60-44 advantage in kills overall, the 55-48 edge in digs and the 13.5-12.5 lead in total blocks.
Brosky and Boevers were the two Gonzaga players to finish with double-digit kills at 13 and 10, respectively. Powell had a team-high 12 digs and Cozad registered seven block assists and one solo block.
Hills finished with a double-double of 20 kills and 15 digs for Eastern Washington. Coviare added 12 kills.
Gonzaga resumes West Coast Conference play Thursday, Oct. 8 when it welcomes Pepperdine University to the Martin Centre. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
