Gonzaga University
9-15, 4-6WCC
Santa Clara
14-11, 4-6WCC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara | 25 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| GONZAGA BULLDOGS | 23 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 1 |
Bulldog Volleyball Falls To Santa Clara In Four Sets
11/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2009
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University, which snapped a 28-match losing streak to Santa Clara University in the first meeting this season, wasn't as fortunate in the home re-match Thursday as the Broncos pulled away in set four to put the finishing touches on a 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 25-16 West Coast Conference volleyball victory.
The Bulldogs (9-15, 4-6) had played four straight five-set matches and six of the last eight heading into Thursday, and for awhile it looked like the Zags might extend that streak. Santa Clara (14-11, 4-6) snapped a two-match losing streak.
The teams played an evenly-matched first set, Gonzaga recovering from a slow start which saw SCU take an early 9-4 to knot the match at 12 on back-to-back kills by Terran Poindexter. The Broncos, who got five kills from Katherine Douglas in the opening set, stretched the lead back to as many as four at 18-14. Gonzaga closed to within one several times, including coming from a 24-21 deficit to 24-23 on a Kaprina Goodwin kill and a SCU attack error. Following a timeout the Broncos Lindsy Davigeadono ended the set with her third kill.
Gonzaga hit .250 in the opening set to the Broncos .189, but the visitors had 16 kills and did a good job defensively with 16 digs.
The Bulldogs played a strong second set to get the equalizer, hitting .281 in the set while the Broncos hit .095. Through two sets the Bulldogs had an attack percentage of .281 to .139 for the Broncos. Gonzaga also controlled the net with 5.5 blocks while SCU had no blocks through the first two sets. The Gonzaga defense also held the set two edge with 15 digs to 10 for SCU.
Once again Gonzaga dug itself a small hole early in set two, trailing 6-2 as Douglas knocked down three kills in the first six SCU points. Gonzaga chipped away at the lead and got to within 10-9 on a pair of Poindexter kills, then, just like in the first set, caught the Broncos at 12 on back-to-back attack errors.
Gonzaga gained its first lead since 1-0 at 13-12 on yet another attack error by the Broncos, and Caitlin Cozad's only service ace of the night pushed the Gonzaga lead to 14-12. As was the case with the Bulldogs in set one, the Broncos would not get closer than one point - that at 15-14 - and Gonzaga expanded the lead to as many as six points, 24-18.
Ahead 20-18, Gonzaga got kills from Layne Brosky and Michelle Boevers, followed by a SCU attack error for the 24-18 lead. The Broncos scored the next two points on Davigeadono kills, but an attack error by SCU evened the match.
As they had done in the first two sets Gonzaga scored the first point of set three, only to see SCU gain control early again. The Broncos led by four at 9-5 as the Bulldogs had three attack errors, a ball handling error and a service error leading to five of the SCU points.
But as they also did in the first two sets the Bulldogs battled back. Gonzaga scored three straight points to cut the SCU lead to 11-10, Denise Van de Mortel getting a kill and a service ace and SCU contributing an attack error. After SCU took a 13-10 lead Gonzaga got a pair of kills from Brosky sandwiched around a Poindexter service ace to tie the match at 13. Three straight attack errors by the Broncos pushed the Gonzaga advantage to 16-13.
A Bulldog service error and kills by Davigeadono and Douglas tied the contest 16-16 and was tied again at 17 before the Broncos ran off five straight points for a 22-17 lead, Douglas with the final two kills resulting in the lead and a Gonzaga timeout. Gonzaga came out of the timeout and scored the next two points to force the Broncos into a timeout. SCU came out of its timeout and scored two of the next three points for a 24-20 advantage, a Bronco attack error gave the Bulldogs life but a Gonzaga attack error put the Broncos up 2-1 in sets.
Santa Clara got its blocking game going in set three with eight block assists and had 15 kills to just nine for the Bulldogs. SCU also had 13 digs in set three to eight for Gonzaga and the Bulldogs had a match-low .059 attack percentage.
The teams were tied 6-6 and 8-8 in set four before SCU began separating from the Bulldogs, scoring five of the next six points for a 13-9 lead. Gonzaga led to its downfall with two attack errors and a ball handling error giving SCU an 11-8 lead. Bosky and SCU's Dana Knudsen traded two kills each, and a Boevers kill cut the Gonzaga deficit to 15-12. SCU scored five of the next seven points as Tanya Schmidt contributed two of her 12 kills and SCU was up 20-14. The Broncos came out of a Gonzaga timeout and committed a service error, but the Broncos responded with strong play down the stretch, Davigeadono getting two of the final four SCU points, including match point.
Boevers paced the Bulldogs with 12 kills while Poindexter had 10. Douglas had a match-high 17 for SCU, Davigeadono added 13 and Schmidt 12. Gonzaga finished with an attack percentage of .182 to the Broncos .196, but SCU had a 61-45 advantage in kills which was the difference in the match. The Bulldogs were strong at the net with 12.5 blocks coming on four block solos and 17 block assists. SCU, after the slow start, finished with 12 block assists for 6.0 blocks in the match. Gonzaga had four blocking errors to none by the Broncos, and Gonzaga also had four ball handling errors while SCU played an error-free match from that standpoint.
The Bulldogs will play their final home match of the season Saturday at noon against the University of San Francisco. Boevers, Brosky and Emily Johnson will be recognized in Senior Day festivities prior to the match.
