Nov. 17, 2010

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University women's volleyball played one of its best matches to date this season, sweeping the visiting Eastern Washington University Eagles at the Martin Centre Wednesday. The Bulldogs took the 3-set non-conference victory 25-18, 25-17, 25-14 and won their second match in three matches to improve to 4-26 overall.

"I am pretty fired up that we won this match and won a match in three sets; it's been awhile since we have done that," head coach Dave Gantt said after his team swept its opponent for the first time since Aug. 28. "I really liked that we established the level of play in the first set and got a little better in each of the next two sets."

The Bulldogs did set the tone early as they turned an 8-8 first set tie quickly into a six-point advantage, one that the Eagles (7-19) could not overcome. Gonzaga rattled off four kills, including two by junior defensive specialist Laura Day, and secured the other two points in the run off block assists by the tag-team of senior middle blocker Schylur Edelman and junior setter Denise Van de Mortel.

"We did a really nice job blocking tonight," said Gantt, whose team finished the first set with three of their 13 blocks. "Blocking is one of those tactical things that we are good at when we identify what the opponent's offense is trying to do, and tonight we did exactly that."

It was sophomore Kylie Edinger who stole the show in the first set, finishing with six kills for Gonzaga, including the final three for the Bulldogs.

A late but timely run was the key to the Bulldogs earning the 8-point set second victory. The Zags and Eagles were neck-and-neck throughout until an attack error by EWU's Alysha Cook broke a 15-15 tie and gave Gonzaga the advantage. GU went on to rattle off six more points to hold a commanding 22-15 lead. Eastern Washington was able to score just two more points in the set with the Bulldogs earning the victory on kills by sophomore outside hitter Terran Poindexter, who had seven in the set, and senior outside hitter Kelsey Bashaw.

"The key to our runs today was the ability to sideout in one play," stated Gantt. "Scoring points when you are on defense is a lot of fun but trying to do it all the time on offense can be a little stressful, so we kept the stress at bay by running our offense really well, thus the sideout percentage."

Gonzaga had a sideout percent of 66 in the second set, at 12-of-18.

"Anytime you can side out above 60 percent you are doing a good job," explained Gantt. "The praise goes to Denny [Van de Mortel] for running our offense according to our game plan."

The final set was never in doubt for the Zags as they built a quick 4-1 lead and pushed it to 19-10 with another impressive run; this time an eight-point spurt. Seven off Gonzaga's eight points, that broke a close 11-10 set open, came on attack errors by Eastern Washington. The lone kill during the run was by Edelman.

"I am really pleased with our results tonight but I still think the performance can we fine tuned a great deal," said Gantt. "We were able to work on some situational tactics that certainly will be more important to us as this group matures. But we were really steady all night."

Gonzaga was led by Poindexter who finished with 11 of the Bulldogs 36 kills. Edelman added five kills, along with a season-high 12 digs and nine blocks. Van de Mortel added four kills, 25 assists, three service aces, five digs and three block assists.

As a team, the Bulldogs out hit (.176/-.024), out blocked (13-6) and out dug (60-41) the Eagles.

Gonzaga now prepares for its final match of the season. The Bulldogs host West Coast Conference rival University of Portland at the Martin Centre Saturday. The match is set for Noon.

"Having won two of the last three, and having the final conference match at home on Senior Day, we certainly will be highly motivated to play volleyball on Saturday," stated Gantt, whose team will recognize Edelman, Allyson Powell, Bashaw and Caitlin Cozad before the match.