Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah--Trailing by two late in the fifth set, the Gonzaga University volleyball team won seven of the final eight points to put away Butler 3-2 and open up the 2016 season with a thrilling marathon victory.

Down 10-8 in the final frame, the Zags called timeout to halt a three-point Butler run. Back-to-back kills from McKayla Ferris and Sarah Bradley then brought the contest level once more at 10, but Butler took a lead with another kill from Anna Logan, the match's kill leader at 29. Gonzaga rallied once more, ripping off the final five points for the win with an ace from Tiyana Hallums, kills from Bradley and Emmy Allen, and a pair of points on attack errors from Logan.

Much like the final period played out, the two squads alternated set wins with Gonzaga winning the first and third and BU taking the second and fourth. The Zags took the early lead in the match, winning the first set 25-19 on the strength of a .419 hitting percentage. The Zags took a permanent lead at 7-3 in the frame and used a pair of four-set runs to close it out. Butler countered with a 19-25 second-set win, evening up the match heading into intermission.

Coming out of the break, the Zags prevailed in the tightest frame on the contest. GU won the elongated set 30-28, allowing Butler to come back from a 24-20 deficit but never trailing in the extra points. Ferris powered down a pass from Jenna Kuehn to take the lead at 29-28, and Bradley and Katelyn Oppio combined for a frame-ending block.

Butler forced the deciding fifth set by taking the fourth by three points at 22-25.

Bulldog Bites:

• In all, the Gonzaga defense dug out 90 balls Friday afternoon, the program's most since 2010 (101 vs. Cal State Bakersfield). The Zags' high last season was 79 in a three-setter against Portland.
• Five Zags reached double figures in the category, headlined by 24 digs from Hallums. By winning the marathon match, the Zags picked up their first five-set victory in over a year Friday. The win actually snaps an 11-match five-set losing streak as their last win in five came Nov. 8, 2014 against San Francisco. They played nine five-set matches in 2015.
• Numerous Zags saw career highs against Butler. Ferris' team-leading 26 kills were a personal best, as were Allen's 21. Bradley finished second in the match with five blocks to set a new career mark, and Hallums also saw a personal best in digs (24). Faith Smith was just one dig (17) and two assists (29) of personal marks.
• Head coach Diane Nelson picked up a win in her first game as head coach of the Zags. That hadn't happened for Gonzaga since 1996 when Eva Windlin-Jansen led the Bulldogs to a 3-0 win over Portland during her first match as interim head coach. Three coaches have won their first game since the Zags moved to NCAA Division I in 1986: Nelson, Windlin-Jansen, and Sheri McNeal (1986).
• Two Zags made their collegiate debuts Friday as Kuehn and Oppio both started the match. Kuehn finished with a double-double at 26 assists and 12 digs while Oppio led the team with eight blocks and added five kills.

Zag Speak:Thoughts from Gonzaga head coach Diane Nelson

• "I asked Tiyana [Hallums] to get the energy up early in the fifth. During that late timeout, I told the team to swing smart, swing aggressively, and to play to win as we have nothing to lose. She pumped up the squad as well, and they went out and executed beautifully."

Next Up:
Gonzaga wraps up the first tournament of the 2016 season on Saturday, August 27, with two more matches of the Utah Volleyball Classic. The Zags will begin the day by facing host Utah at 9:00 a.m. Pacific (10:00 a.m. Mountain), and they finish with a match against Idaho State at 4:00 p.m. Pacific (5:00 p.m. Mountain). Both matches will again take place in the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.