Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash.--The Gonzaga volleyball team opened the second half of West Coast Conference play with a win Thursday night, downing San Francisco in three sets (25-23, 25-23, 25-23) in Spokane.

The sweep, GU's fifth of the season, pushes the Bulldogs to 13-9 overall and 8-2 in WCC play. It is also their seventh home win this season and cinches up a winning record inside the Martin Centre for the fourth year in a row.

"They're a good team, and they tested a lot of pieces of our game," said Gonzaga head coach Diane Nelson of San Francisco. "It was a good test for us to start the second round of conference play and to maintain the level of play and get the W. We stuck in there in serve-receive and got enough going that we were able to score the points we needed to score."

Despite the match scoreline, the win didn't come easy as each frame ended 25-23 in favor of the Zags. In the first, San Francisco fought off four set points before Sarah Penner ended the frame with a kill, and the second was tied 23-all before Alyse Whitaker and Faith Smith claimed the final two points. Gonzaga also had two looks at match point in the third before Whitaker ended things with another tally, her 10th of the match.

Penner led all players with 13 kills, and Whitaker's .529 attack percentage was also a match high. Tiyana Hallums once again organized the Zag defense to the tune of 17 digs, her ninth WCC match in double digits, and the Zags out-dug San Francisco 56-50. At the net, Gonzaga out-blocked the Dons 13.0-7.0. Whitaker was involved with six of those GU stuffs.

Opposite hitter/setter Jenna Kuehn had a solid night all around, contributing 13 assists, seven kills, five digs, and three blocks. Smith led the match with 30 assists.

The Zags put their two-match win streak on the line Saturday, Oct. 28, when they host Santa Clara at noon. Gonzaga won the first match between the two squads 3-2 on Sept. 28 in Santa Clara.