Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore.--For the second consecutive season, the Gonzaga volleyball team ended the year with a winning record as the Zags swept past Portland 3-0 Monday night at the Chiles Center. The 25-17, 25-15, 25-18 win was Gonzaga's final contest of the 2015 season.

In the first set, the Bulldogs used an early seven-point run to take a quick lead. Redshirt senior Savannah Blinn began the run with a kill, and she added two more in the run to combine with a Paige Folger service ace along with both a kill and a block from Emmy Allen. With the Zags up 8-2, the two squads traded points for a bit, but the Zags then took off on a four-point stretch to go up 17-8. After that, Portland and Gonzaga traded points once again until a Portland service error gave the Zags a 25-17 set one win. Blinn tallied six kills -- nearly half of her match total -- in the frame on 11 swings.

The Bulldogs picked up right where they left off in set two. They took an early 8-2 lead thanks to four straight points -- kills from Loewen and Faith Smith along with two Pilot errors -- and they stretched that lead out to eight points with back-to-back kills from Loewen and Jordan Gasser. Up 12-5, they then scored five in a row once more for a 17-5 advantage with Blinn posting three of those points. The Pilots did whittle that lead down to seven at 21-14, but the Zags scored four of the final five points -- two of those on service aces from Morgan Douglass -- to take a commanding lead at two sets to zero.

The third set started out much tighter as the Zags held just a two point lead 18 points into the frame. The Pilots actually took an early 2-3 advantage, but a Portland error and kill from Blinn gave GU the lead once more and for good. They held a two- or three-point advantage until going up by five with a kill from Folger and two from Blinn. Portland once again came within two at 19-17, but Gonzaga ended the match with a 6-1 run, getting kills from Loewen, Folger, Blinn, and Gasser to go along with block assists from Folger and Gasser. They won the frame 25-18 and swept the match three to zero.

Bulldog Bites:

• With the win, the Zags clinched a winning season at 16-15 overall, their second in a row. It's the first time since 1989 and 1990 that Gonzaga has posted back-to-back winning records. They went 21-12 in 1989 and 25-7 a year later.
• Gonzaga dug up 79 balls against the Pilots, their second-highest total of the year and highest in a three-set match in the last 15 seasons. For the second time in a row, four Bulldogs reached double digits in digs. Allen led the Zags in digs for the third night in a row, digging up 17, sophomore Nikki Leonard was a close second with 16, freshman Faith Smith posted 14 digs, and junior McKayla Ferris added 13. Against Saint Mary's to begin the season-ending road trip, Gonzaga posted a season high 85 digs, and four Bulldogs also reached double digits as well.
• Three Zags played in their final collegiate match Monday night as Blinn, Gasser, and Lauren Joseph all wrapped up their Gonzaga careers. Blinn led all players with 13 kills while Gasser also reached double-digits with 10. Joseph, meanwhile, dished out 20 assists and added three digs to round out her career. All three had a significant impact on the Bulldogs in their times: Blinn leaves with 1,728 kills, second-most in Gonzaga history; Gasser ends with the fifth-most kills in the program's last 15 years; and Joseph is seventh in the Zags' record books with 2,431 assists. There's one more senior on the Gonzaga roster, but Deanna Nielson lost her final year at Gonzaga due to injury. She played in 57 matches and 192 sets for Gonzaga, posting 157 kills and 116 total blocks. She redshirted her true freshman season in 2011 and missed all but one match in 2014 due to injury as well.
• Blinn finished the 2015 season with 475 kills, the sixth-highest amount in GU history. She's posted two of the program's top six kill totals as her 566 in 2014 is fourth.
• With the sweep over Portland, Gonzaga ended the year with 11 three-set wins. That ties the school record, which they've now reached in four different seasons. They first set the record at 11 sweeps in 1989 and equaled that mark in both 1990 and 1992.

Zag Speak:

Gonzaga head coach Dave Gantt

• I'm really proud of our team for putting together a complete match tonight. It was a consistent effort on both offense and defense highlighted by some great digging behind our block. Seventy-nine digs in a three-set match has to be some kind of record, and there have to be some personal bests!"
• "Our seniors deserve a lot of credit for helping put together the first back-to-back winning seasons in 25 years. All three played significant roles in winning tonight's match. And, having another winning season also means our RPI will improve for the sixth straight year, and this senior class was involved in the bulk of our improvement in each cycle. They helped make some history and no one can ever take that away from them!"
• "The staff is so happy that we ended on a high note, and the team will always have fond memories of tonight's performance. Go Zags!"

Next Up:

With the win, the Bulldogs wrap up the 2015 season with a 16-15 record, 7-11 in West Coast Conference play. They say goodbye to seniors Blinn, Gasser, Joseph, and Nielson, but return 12 current players, including seven seniors. Also, the Zags will add three incoming freshman for the 2016 season.