SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team opened West Coast Conference action with a disappointing 3-1 (26-28, 25-21, 18-25, 24-26) setback to Loyola Marymount University Thursday evening at the Martine Centre. The Bulldogs fell to 6-6 on the with the four-set loss, while the Lions improved to 7-6 overall, 1-0 in conference.
A storybook finish looked to be in the cards for the Bulldogs as they shook off a 28-26 come-from-behind first set victory by the Lions to battle back from what could have been a demoralizing 7-0 start by LMU in the second to earn themselves a 25-21 stunning comeback. It was senior Laura Day that finished off Gonzaga's improbable second set victory as she had a hand in four of the Bulldogs final seven points. She teamed up with redshirt Meredith Crenshaw for a block and then with junior Kylie Edinger for another. Day then tallied two kills, including hammering home the set-point.
After Loyola Marymount took the third set, it was Gonzaga that was in cruise control in the fourth, moving along quickly to seemingly force a fifth set. The Bulldogs held an early 10-5 advantage, pushed it to 20-14 and held set point at 24-18 but then everything went wrong. Back-to-back attack errors by the Zags put their lead at just three and forced head coach Dave Gantt to call a timeout. Another set of attack errors by Gonzaga had Loyola Marymount within one at 24-23. Again Gantt called a timeout to steady his troops.
But the Lions had the momentum; coming out of the timeout with a kill by Emily Cheek to knot the set at 24. Gonzaga was then its own enemy, giving LMU the win after its third set of back-to-back attacking errors. In the end, Loyola Marymount used an astonishing 7-0 run to claim the victory.
Gonzaga was led by Edinger and Crenshaw, who had 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Edinger also had seven block assists and two solo blocks and Crenshaw added nine block assists and one solo block on the night. Senior setter Denise Van de Mortel finished with the Zags' lone double-double of the evening, passing out 34 assists and digging 10 balls.
The Lions, who won at the Martine Centre for the first time in since 2005, had five players close out the match with double-figure kills, including Alyse Hensley and Emily Cheek who led the team with 15 and 12, respectively. Jasmine Rankins added a double-double of 10 kills and 12 digs.
Gonzaga returns to action Saturday when its hosts No. 19 Pepperdine University. Match time is set for Noon.
