BOX SCORE
SPOKANE, Wash. The Gonzaga volleyball team rallied back from a set down to control the match on the way to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-15) victory over Pepperdine. The win is the Zags first over the Waves in 34 matches, a streak that dates back to Nov. 2, 1996.
Junior outside hitter Savannah Blinn paced the Bulldogs (10-4, 1-2 WCC) with 17 kills and added three blocks. Jordan Gasser ripped off 14 kills and McKayla Ferris added 10. Defensively, the Zags combined for 13.0 blocks, including six from both Imani Wimbush (2 solo, 4 assist) and Kaylie Loewen (6 assist). In the back row, libero Morgan Douglass notched 18 digs, while setter Kiani Lane added 15 digs to go with 28 assists.
"It was great to get a win against Pepperdine," head coach Dave Gantt said. "It had been awhile since we had success against them, and I'm glad we finished much stronger than we started. Our ladies can feel really good about that. We made adjustments and were better on offense in the second and third sets. I thought we hung in there and battled well. I'm proud of the ladies for pushing back and getting it done."
Pepperdine's (6-10, 1-3 WCC) Katie Messing led the Waves with 16 kills.
The Bulldogs dug themselves an early hole in the first set, down 7-2 early. A kill by Loewen and consecutive kills by Blinn inched Gonzaga within one at 21-20, but the Waves got kills from Gaby Palmeri and Katie Messing to finish of the set.
In the second, Gonzaga jumped out to a 3-0 capped off with a kill from Blinn. Gasser then capped off an 8-0 GU run that pushed the lead to 16-5 and from there the Zags were rolling. Blinn had five kills in the set and Gasser totaled four on the way to a 25-14 win.
The third set featured a 4-0 run that broke a 6-6 tie with a kill and block by Wimbush. Gonzaga then got back-to-back kills from Loewen and Gasser to grow the lead to 19-11. A block from Loewen and Nikki Leonard finished off a 25-19 victory.
Gonzaga matched Pepperdine point-for-point through seven, but broke it open with an 11-4 run. During the span, Gasser collected three kills and GU's defense forced the Waves in four hitting errors. Paige Folger helped force two of the errors with block assists.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on the Martin Centre on Saturday when they host No. 22 LMU at 12 p.m. Last season, Gonzaga split their two matches with LMU, grabbing a win in Spokane.
