Box Score Sept. 13, 2015 Box Score
TEMPE, Ariz.--The Gonzaga volleyball squad hung with No. 10 Arizona State for more than two sets Sunday, but GU faltered in the final set and a half to drop a 3-1 decision to the Sun Devils at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.
The first set ended close at 25-23, and the Bulldogs were continuously chasing down the Sun Devils throughout to make sure of it. Arizona State took a 7-2 lead through the first nine points, but the Bulldogs whittled that deficit down to just two over the next nine. ASU again stretched out their lead to five, but Gonzaga again chipped away until they were within two points late, seeing scores of 22-20, 23-21, and 24-22. The Sun Devils actually reached set point at 24-21, but senior Savannah Blinn blasted back-to-back kills to hold off the clincher. Kizzy Ricedorff got that clincher for Arizona State, finishing off a pass from Kylie Pickrell.
Gonzaga evened the match with a second set victory. The teams traded points early, but ASU did work into a three-point lead at 8-5. With the score at 10-7 in favor of the hosts, an attack error gave senior Jordan Gasser the serve, and she served up six more points for Gonzaga to take the lead. Blinn pounded three more kills during the stretch, and the Zags benefitted from a few Sun Devil attack errors as well. The 7-0 Bulldog run gave the Zags a 14-10 lead they held throughout, but it was tenuous as the Sun Devils cut that lead to one at 20-19. Junior Emmy Allen gave Gonzaga the serve at 21-19 with a kill, and they ended the frame on a 5-1 run to take it 25-20.
ASU took the third set thanks to a large run in the middle of the frame. With the game tied at eight points apiece, the Sun Devils won nine of the next 10 for a sizable advantage. The teams essentially traded points for the rest of the frame, but ASU took it 25-14.
In the fourth set, Gonzaga prevented the Sun Devils from any runs longer than three points, but the Bulldogs didn't make any themselves either. A 6-1 stretch near the middle of the frame for ASU elevated the Sun Devils over the Zags in the set, and the 25-17 set victory ended the match.
Bulldog Bites
- Both sides dug up a lot of balls Sunday. Gonzaga post 59 digs, its third-highest total of the season and just four away from the high mark, and ASU tallied 77, most by any Gonzaga opponent of the year. Junior Morgan Douglass led Gonzaga with 12 digs, and Gasser added 10. Five other Bulldogs posted more than five.
- Blinn notched 19 kills for the second consecutive match, having tallied 19 kills against Southern Utah Sept. 12. That mark is also the second highest of the year for Blinn as she posted 21 versus Sept. 5 and also hit 19 Aug. 29 versus Portland State. Throughout the four-match weekend, Blinn paced GU with 54 kills.
- Freshman Faith Smith capped off a strong weekend with 17 assists, eight digs, and a pair of kills against the Sun Devils. Named MVP of the GCU Invite Sept. 11-12, Smith provided 95 assists and dug out 25 balls while in Arizona.
- Gasser posted her first double-double of the season, posting 11 kills and 10 digs in the game. It was the first time the senior had hit double digits in digs during the 2015 season.
Next Up
Gonzaga (7-3) will head to the Midwest for its final non-conference tournament. GU will face Kansas, UMKC, and South Dakota State as part of Kansas' Jayhawk Invitational in Lawrence, Kansas Sept. 18-19. The Bulldogs begin the tournament at 4:30 p.m. Pacific on Friday the 18th with a match against Kansas.
