SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga volleyball's full conference schedule is now available, Head Coach Diane Nelson announced Friday afternoon. The Bulldogs' fall slate features four teams that advanced to the 2021 spring NCAA Tournament, with seven programs that boasted a winning record in the shortened 2021 spring campaign.
"We are ready for this schedule," Nelson said. "New team, great energy, and a narrow focus on our goals —our preseason schedule gives us the experience we need to start strong in the WCC."
The Zags open the season on the road at the Mississippi State tournament, hosted by the Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss. GU is scheduled for three matches the opening weekend, facing Southeastern Louisiana before two games with host Mississippi State. Mississippi State finished the 2021 spring slate with a 5-15 overall mark with an identical SEC record, and the Bulldogs return two All-SEC performers for the 2021 campaign: right side hitter Gabby Waden and libero Lilly Gunter. The duo was also selected to the AVCA All-South Region team.
Southeastern Louisiana is fresh off an 11-5 overall mark with a 9-3 record in the Southland Conference, good for third. Two Lions collected all-conference honors, led by outside hitter Kailin Newsome who was named the Southland Conference Volleyball Freshman of the Year along with First Team All-Southland while junior middle blocker Crispin Adams was selected to the third team. Second-year head coach Jeremy White was selected as the Southland's Coach of the Year. White has been part of a massive turnaround for the program which saw 12-win improvement in his first year at the helm. In 2021, the Lions' 11-5 overall record marked their first winning season since 2002.
Following the Mississippi State tournament, Gonzaga returns home to host its first nonconference tournament since 2019. The Zags will host Air Force, Seattle and Oklahoma over Labor Day weekend inside the Martin Centre for the Gonzaga Invitational Sep. 3-5. Gonzaga last faced Air Force in 2019 as part of the Pentagon Invite; that season, GU swept the Falcons in three sets to cap an undefeated opening weekend. In the adapted 2021 spring season, Air Force finished 7-6 overall as well as in the Mountain West Conference, good for sixth. Against Seattle, Gonzaga carries an even 3-3 overall mark, winning two of the last three matches. In the last meeting, the Redhawks stole the match in five sets back in 2019 in Spokane. The 2021 meeting with Oklahoma will be the first in program history; the Bulldogs carry a 2-7 overall mark against current Big 12 programs.
Next up is the Cougar Challenge in Pullman Sep. 10-11, featuring matchups with Long Beach State, host Washington State and Northern Iowa. GU has never faced LBSU or UNI in volleyball, and hasn't played Washington State since 2010, when the Zags were downed in four sets in Pullman. The two played each other once every season from 2001-2010. In the spring 2021 season, the Cougars went 11-5 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, their fifth straight year with a postseason appearance. LBSU is playing its first indoor season since 2019 after not competing last spring, while UNI went 9-13 with an 8-8 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Following the Gonzaga Invitational, the Bulldogs travel to Portland, Ore., for the final nonconference tournament of the season. Portland State hosts Gonzaga and North Dakota State Sept. 17-18; the Bulldogs open the tournament against host PSU on Sept. 17. The Vikings finished the 2021 spring season with a 6-12 overall record including a 5-11 mark in Big Sky Conference play. North Dakota State posted a 10-8 overall mark last season with an even 8-8 record in the Summit League.
GU's West Coast Conference slate features three teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in the 2021 spring season and three programs that were ranked in the final AVCA Top 25 poll. Gonzaga officially opens WCC play Sept. 25 at Portland followed by a Sept. 28 match at Loyola Marymount.
The Zags finished 7-11 in a condensed spring season delayed by the COVID pandemic and return nine players along with seven newcomers after graduating six last spring. Among those returners are junior middle blocker Alyssa Hughes and junior outside hitter Kennedy Croft, who both earned All-WCC nods after stellar seasons in the spring.
Hughes led the second-best blocking program in the WCC at the net with team highs in total blocks (72.0), solo blocks (9) and block assists (63). She led the conference in total blocks on the season (72), and ranked third in the conference in blocks per set (1.07) and solo blocks with nine. Hughes also led the squad and ranked fourth in the conference in hitting percentage at .328, connecting for 134 kills off 287 attempts with just 40 errors on the year.
A contributor since her freshman year, Croft ranked fourth on the squad in kills (128) and third in digs per set (2.84) while ranking second in points per set at 2.94 despite an extended absence due to injury. The junior from Tumwater, Wash., finished with double-digit kills nine times on the season in the spring.
