Sept. 14, 2010

Box Score

PULLMAN, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team dropped a four-set match to in-state rival and Pacific-10 Conference member Washington State University Tuesday evening in Pullman, Wash. The Bulldogs fell 20-25, 25-27, 25-23, 25-19 to drop to 2-10 on the season. The Cougars improved to 6-4 with the victory.

The Zags came out flat in the first set, a little unsure of themselves and their surroundings as they allowed the Cougars to tally 20 kills off of 41 attempts for a strong .317 hitting clip. Gonzaga finished with nine less kills than WSU and only attempted 35 kills in the five-point setback.

The Bulldogs came alive in the second set, looking like they were easily going to take the set building a 21-15 advantage off the serving of junior Denise Van de Mortel. After a redshirt freshman Meredith Crenshaw kill off the Cougar serve, Van de Mortel served seven consecutive times. Senior Caitlin Cozad hammered home three kills during the Van de Mortel stretch, along with combining for a block assist with Crenshaw. Crenshaw closed out the rally with a kill of her own.

Things started to fall apart for Gonzaga though as it had four-straight attack attempts go out of bounds to pull Washington State within two at 22-20. The Bulldogs still had a chance as they served for set point at 24-22, but a Meagan Ganzer kill, her 11th of the match, thwarted their hopes. The set would tie at 24 and 25 and the Cougs earned the improbable comeback with a kill by Vanessa Murray followed by a service ace that caught on the net for a split second and fell in bounds.

The third set had the making to end like the second as the Bulldogs, who controlled the set from the beginning, let a 22-18 advantage turn into a 23-23 tie on a 5-1 Cougar run. Gonzaga did not let the victory slip away this time as junior Kaprina Goodwin got a kill on the next play, her fourth of the match, to give the Bulldogs the slight lead. After a timeout by Washington State, Ganzer, who is currently second in the nation in kills per set, went for her 44th attack attempt of the match, but Gonzaga was up to the challenge as senior Schylur Edelman and Crenshaw came up with the huge block for the win.

Gonzaga kept the momentum on its side for the early moments of the fourth set but with the set tied at 15 apiece, Washington State rattled off an 8-2 run, which included three more kills by Ganzer and a solo block by Ganzer to pull ahead at 23-18. The Bulldogs could not recover and WSU claimed its fifth-straight victory over GU.

"Once again we were well prepared, jumped right into the belly of the beast and didn't finish in the final third of three sets," stated second year head coach Dave Gantt."It's disappointing because all we have to do is trust ourselves to continue doing what got us to that point; nothing more, but nothing less."

Gonzaga was led by Crenshaw, Edelman and Goodwin. Crenshaw finished with 11 kills and Edelman and Goodwin both chipped in 10. Edelman also had four block assists in the match.

Libero Allyson Powell was a force on defense for the Bulldogs, ending the match with 21 digs. Laura Day added 14.

Ganzer had 30 kills, nine digs and seven blocks to lead the Cougars.

"We now have to look forward to our home opener and maybe that will give us a jump start," explained Gantt.

Gonzaga hosts the Zags Volleyball Classic this Friday and Saturday. The Bulldogs first home match of the season is against the University of Wyoming Friday at 7 p.m.