SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga volleyball raced out to a 2-0 lead early in their final home match of the 2023 season, but Portland responded to complete the reverse sweep, 24-26, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-12.
 
THE ACTION
First Set – Gonzaga, 26-24

• Led by Maggie Rickert's seven kills in the opening set, Gonzaga (3-23, 0-15 West Coast Conference) hung on to earn a 26-24 win after hitting .318 as a team. Juliette Russell picked up five kills, while Zoe Thiros and Jody Smith each added four.
• It was Russell and Smith right out of the gates for the Bulldogs, combining for three immediate kills and a 3-0 GU lead. Portland (9-19, 4-12 West Coast Conference) responded to tie things up at three with kills from Taina Kaauwai and Maui Robins.
• Needing a spark, the Zags got one out of Rickert when the set was tied 6-6. The freshman ripped four kills in Gonzaga's next five points to open a 10-7 lead. She came back for more when GU needed another spark trailing 17-14, picking up two more.
• Still trailing by one (20-19), Gonzaga found Russell and Smith to take a 25-24 lead and put the Zags at set point before Rickert capped off the comeback with her seventh kill. In the set, Alisa Kim added eight digs while Nia Damuni assisted on 18 of the 20 GU kills.

Second Set – Gonzaga, 25-18

• Another dominant offensive set by Gonzaga put them up 2-0 quickly inside the Martin Center. A .407 clip was built on a balanced attack led by Rickert (three kills), Smith (three kills), Thiros (two kills), and Fallon Thompson (two kills). The Zags held Portland to just a .133 clip in the set.
• After getting some help from a few Pilot miscues, GU picked up a 6-3 lead after a Smith service ace. Portland's Elin Larsson corrected the course with a pair of kills to knot the score at nine.
• Despite a handful of kills from the Pilots' Robins, Gonzaga outran Portland in the later half of the set behind offense from Thompson, Thiros, and Rickert. A final attack error by Portland sealed the 25-18 victory for the Zags.

Third Set – Portland, 25-22

• Portland's Larsson fueled the team's response in set three with eight kills and a .462 attack percentage. Robins added six as a 25-22 Pilot win extended the match to a fourth set. Gonzaga recorded just nine kills in the third set loss.
• A 6-3 GU lead was quickly erased after a Robins kill made it 7-6 Gonzaga. An Alisa Kim ace extended the lead back out to four at 13-9, but Portland would respond once again to tie it up at 14.
• The set saw three more ties and an even 22-22 score before three straight points from the Pilots moved the match to a fourth set. Russell and Rickert's attempts to spark a rally were quickly met by a pair of Larsson kills to earn the 25-22 win.

Fourth Set – Portland, 25-22

• Robins was the lead attacker in the fourth set that mirrored the set three score. Despite hitting just .167, Portland earned another 25-22 win to send the match to a tiebreaking fifth set.
• Gonzaga never had a lead in set four despite trailing by no more than three for the majority of the set. A 14-14 tie was the closes the Zags would come before Portland opened another consistent three-point advantage.
• In a Robins and Rickert faceoff, it was Robins who would gain the victory with three late kills to seal the three-point win. Thiros notched five kills in the fourth set, hitting .571 as the Zags edged Portland in hitting percentage despite dropping the set.

Fifth Set – Portland, 15-12

• Finding offense from nearly everyone so far, Portland looked to Lia Hawken in the fifth set. Hawken picked up four kills on a .500 clip, while Robins added three en route to a 15-12 win.
• Three kills from Rickert in set five were not quite enough to thwart the Pilots' reverse sweep. Once again, Gonzaga edged Portland .467 to .333 in the attack percentage category despite falling in the final set.
• The Zags called on Tyra Schaub late in the fifth, as she quickly picked up a kill to try and spark a last-minute rally. However, Portland would outlast the late push to earn just their fourth West Coast Conference victory of the season.

 
QUICK STATS

• Alisa Kim recorded 20 digs in the five-set loss on Thursday, bringing her career total to 997. She seeks just three digs in the season finale on Saturday to become just the 15th member of the 1,000 digs club in program history.
• Maggie Rickert's 17 kills tied a career-high, matching the total she hit twice already this season (Oct. 26 vs. Santa Clara and Nov. 9 vs. Saint Mary's). Portland's Maui Robins was the only player to record more kills with a match-leading 22 on the night.
• Gonzaga's eight service aces puts them at 151 on the season and program fifth-most during the rally scoring era.

 
UP NEXT
Gonzaga concludes their 2023 season at San Diego on Saturday. First serve is set for 12 p.m.
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