Sept. 5, 2009

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball squad closed out the Northwest Challenge on a high note defeating Boise State University 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-16) to earn its first sweep of the season. The Zags took third place at the tournament with a 1-2 record and are now 2-4 overall on the season. The Broncos closed out the tourney, hosted by Portland State University, 0-3 and are now 0-6 overall.

"I really like the format of the Northwest Challenge," stated head coach Dave Gantt. "You get to play teams from the Northwest, teams from all different conferences and it is in a different location each season. We got to play a Top-10 team and two other teams that we can compete with. All good things for us.

"I am pleased with ended with a win. We were able to wash off a close loss to Portland State and detoxed from our Washington match. I give a pat on the back to our players for how we played against Boise State. It was an opportunity to recover from a bad match [against UW]. We came back to the gym with a good mindset. We were extremely good from beginning to end."

The Bulldogs had control of set one from start to finish. GU jumped out to an 11-4 lead after the Zags forced the Broncos to mishit the ball twice and served a ball into the net. Gonzaga held at least a four point advantage the rest of the set and scored the final three points to claim the eight-point victory.

In two matches this season Gonzaga had won set one but stumbled in set two and ultimately lost each match. The Bulldogs were determined not to let that happen this time. The Zags, who held an early five point lead in the set, had to come from behind late in the set to claim the victory.

With Boise State serving set point at 24-22, senior Layne Brosky hammered home a kill which forced the Broncos to call a timeout. Gonzaga earned another point right after the timeout, this time on a kill by senior Michelle Boevers, followed by an attacking error by BSU which gave GU the 25-24 edge. Gonzaga had a chance to win it at 26, but Boevers mishit the ball to allow the Broncos to tie the game at 25-25. The Bulldogs wouldn't give up though as they rattled off the next two points, including a service ace by Boevers, to claim the all important second set.

"Set two was a key point in the match for us," explained Gantt. "Boise State was up a point at 24 and we came back and tied it and then went ahead. We exchanged punches. Had a good swing to finish it, but couldn't, but then put together two good plays to complete the set."

The Broncos seemed deflated after the second set loss and the Bulldogs capitalized. Gonzaga finished with 12 kills in the final set and had its best hitting performance of the match with a .300 hitting clip.

Gonzaga was led by Brosky, who earned all-tournament. Brosky, who finished with double-figure kills in all three matches of the Northwest Challenge, tallied a match-high of 10. She also helped stuff four Bronco kill attempts.

"It was obvious from the beginning that the match-ups for Layne were in her favor," said Gantt when talking about her tournament performance. "What we had to do was pick and choose when to give her the ball. Layne was effective because Caitlin [Cozad] continued to run and move to a part of the net that opponents had to defend her which opened up some other seams for Layne."

The Bulldogs held the advantage in almost every category. GU out-killed BSU 37-32, had a .225 attacking percentage, while holding the Broncos to just a .096 clip. Gonzaga also served up a season-high 10 service aces, including four from Boevers, and had 10 total blocks. Boise State only had four service aces and six blocks. Each team finished the match with 43 digs.

Alisha King led Boise State with 10 kills, two digs and two block assists.

"I really liked our personality in this match from start to finish. We didn't give up any big runs or points which indicated our players are figuring out that patience is a good thing," said Gantt.

Gonzaga is back in action next weekend when it plays in its final in-season tournament of the year. The Bulldogs travel to Oklahoma for the University of Tulsa Tournament, set for Sept. 11-12.