Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif.--Despite rallying to force a fifth set after losing the first two, the Gonzaga University volleyball team fell in a hard-fought match to the University of the Pacific Saturday at the Spanos Center in Stockton.

Pacific got out to an early 2-0 match lead after winning the first two sets. In the first, the Tigers used a four-point run to go ahead 9-8 and held the advantage throughout, but not before the Bulldogs came within two points late in the frame at 19-17. During the second, the Tigers once again used a 4-0 stretch to take a lead, this one coming late in the set at 21-19. At that point the teams traded points and Pacific took the frame 25-23.

The Bulldogs returned the favor in set three, a tight set that saw eight lead changes and 15 tie scores. They took the lead with a three-point run in the latter half of the set, getting points off a kill from junior Emmy Allen and two Tiger errors. A UoP block tied the frame at 18-all, but redshirt senior Savannah Blinn returned the lead to the Bulldogs and Allen strung together consecutive kills for a three-point advantage. Pacific countered with four in a row to retake the lead, but senior Jordan Gasser responded with two straight kills for another Bulldog advantage. After another tie score at 23-23, Gasser and Paige Folger ended the frame with back-to-back kills to pull GU within a set.

In the fourth, Pacific got out to a six-point lead at 14-8, but the Zags stiffened up and immediately eliminated that deficit. At the 14-8 mark, Gonzaga scored five points in a row on two kills from Allen, one from Blinn, a block by Gasser, and block assists from Gasser and Kaylie Loewen. The teams traded points for a bit more, but then the Bulldogs scored eight in a row to take the lead for good. Blinn posted three kills during that stretch, and Folger added three blocks as well. Gonzaga won the frame 25-18 to force a deciding fifth set.

That deciding fifth set was just as close as the second and third sets as it featured five tie scores and two lead changes. The Zags took a 4-2 lead with a three-point run early in the frame, but the Tigers did the same for a 7-6 advantage. After junior McKayla Ferris tied the set at 8-all, the Tigers scored four of five for a three-point margin, one that held until the end as Pacific won the fifth 15-12.

Bulldog Bites

• Blinn led all players with 21 kills, reaching the 20-kill mark for the third match in a row, fourth match of the last five, and sixth match of the season. She also moved past the 1,700 career kill mark after taking over second on the school's all-time kills list Nov. 19 at Saint Mary's. She entered the day with 441 kills on the season, third most in the West Coast Conference. Also, Blinn was No. 3 in the WCC in kills against conference opponents on the year as well.
• Meanwhile, Allen posted another double-double, her fourth of the season and second in a row. The Mill Creek, Wash., native tallied 16 kills and 16 digs Saturday to lead the Zags' defensive efforts. She also hit .500 on the day, pairing those 16 kills with just one error and 30 attacks. The efficiency mark is her third-highest of the season and best since hitting above .500 twice during the GCU Invite in September. Allen now is second on the team in double-doubles behind first-place Faith Smith.
• Junior Morgan Douglass saw increased playing time at Pacific, taking over libero duties in the first set. Douglass dug up 13 attacks in the match, her highest mark since posting 22 Sept. 19 versus UMKC. She missed the first six conference games due to injury and has been coming in as a sub off the bench ever since. Despite not wearing the red jersey, the Spokane native tallied 12 digs Nov. 14 versus BYU and 10 Nov. 7 versus Loyola Marymount.

Zag Speak

Gonzaga Head Coach Dave Gantt

"Once again we started off slow and had to figure some things out on the fly. That is a mentally and physically fatiguing process which we should have figured out how to avoid by now. We gained a little momentum in each set but ran out of gas late in the fifth. It would have been much easier to compete well from the beginning of set one. We need to wash this off and move onto Portland on Monday."

Next Up:

Gonzaga (15-15, 6-11 WCC) will wrap up the 2015 regular season Monday, Nov. 23 against Northwest rival Portland. That match will take place at 5:00 p.m. in Portland's Chiles Center. The Bulldogs swept the Pilots in the season's first contest between the two on Oct. 24 in Spokane.