Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash.--With its best blocking effort of the season and timely hitting -- particularly from senior Jordan Gasser -- the Gonzaga volleyball squad picked up its first win over a ranked team this season with a 3-1 victory over No. 23 Pacific Thursday night at the Martin Centre.

Gonzaga's blocking was strong all night, but it reached its peak in the third set as the Bulldogs tallied 7.0 team blocks in the frame alone. They found themselves down four points at 14-10 at the set's midway point, but Gasser got the squad going with a thunderous solo block of an attack by Pacific's Alexandra Holt. A few points later, they began to chip away at the Tiger lead, drawing even at 19-all with back-to-back kills from redshirt senior Savannah Blinn and Gasser. After a Pacific sideout, the Zags took a lead on two Gasser kills, and she and redshirt junior Paige Folger teamed up for another Gonzaga block to put GU up 22-20. The Tigers re-tied the frame up at 22-all and 23-all, but consecutive Bulldog blocks gave Gonzaga the crucial middle set with 25-23 score.

The fourth set was tightly contested with 17 tie scores and four lead changes; neither team ever owned more than a two point lead for the entire frame. Just past the midpoint of the frame, the Tigers took a two point advantage with kills from Alicja Wilk and Lexi Elman. They held that advantage until the Zags put together three points in four attempts, tying the match at 19 with a block from Folger and junior McKayla Ferris. The sides then traded points until they were tied at 23 apiece, and the Zags moved to match point with a service error from Maycie Labass, the Tigers' 16^th of the night. Up 24-23, Blinn pounded home match point to give the Zags the win, their first ever versus Pacific.

Gonzaga won the first set by a score of 25-18. The Bulldogs took a 13-9 lead in the first 22 points, but five consecutive points from the Tigers tied the frame at 14-all. The Zags bounced back with a run of their own, getting kills from Blinn and Gasser as well as a block from Ferris and sophomore Kaylie Loewen for an 18-14 lead, and one they wouldn't relinquish. They ended the frame on an 11-4 run, powered by Gasser, who's five first-set kills came during the final 15 points of the frame.

Pacific evened the match break with a 25-21 set victory in set No. 2. The Tigers used a five point run in the middle of the frame to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish on two kills, a block, and two GU attack errors.

Bulldog Bites

• Gonzaga blocked 17 Pacific attacks Thursday night, the most of the season and most since tallying 18.5 blocks during their upset of LMU last season. That total is also tied for fourth-most blocks in a four set match in the last 10 years. Folger equaled a career high and set a yearly best with 10 blocks -- all block assists -- while Gasser set a season high with five, four block assists and one solo. Folger's 10 blocks is also the second highest total in the WCC so far this season.
• Thursday was both team's first West Coast Conference match, meaning the Zags' win puts them at 1-0 in conference play. They haven't won their conference opening match since 2009 when they opened league play with a 3-0 win over Portland. They haven't gone 2-0 to open WCC play since 1991, a span of 24 years.
• The win was Gonzaga's first over a ranked squad this season and first since taking down No. 22 Loyola Marymount Oct. 4 of last season. During the 2015 slate, the Zags had already played three ranked squads, taking set victories off then-No. 10 Arizona State, then-No. 17 Kansas while losing 3-0 in the season opener to then-No. 10 Washington. All three squads have since moved up in the rankings.
• Prior to tonight's match, the Zags had never beaten Pacific in six attempts. The two teams first met in 1997 when the Tigers swept GU in Stockton, Calif. Since joining the WCC two years ago, Pacific had also won all four conference matches between the two.

Zag Speak

GU head coach Dave Gantt

"We were really consistent on both sides of the ball. Admittedly we didn't make the adjustments we could have in the last two sets defensively, but I also can't remember the last time we blocked 17 shots in a match. That's 4.25 blocks per set, well above our average. We pushed back both ways."

"In retrospect, that match was worth the efforts of going through Washington State, Arizona State, Utah, and Kansas. Our entire staff will agree. We felt all along we were able to play with those teams, we just weren't able to sustain that for as long of periods as we did tonight."

"The West Coast Conference will be extremely competitive this year; right now it's ranked as one of the top two conferences in the country in terms of preseason winning percentage. Pacific is one of those top teams, and to win close sets against a good team is very encouraging. This is one of those things that we needed to do this year."

Next Up

The Bulldogs (10-4, 1-0 WCC) will continue the opening weekend of conference play with a home match against Saint Mary's. The Gaels will roll into the Martin Centre on Saturday, Sept. 26 for a 12:00 p.m. contest.