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Women's Volleyball Wins Five Set Thriller Over Utah State
Aug. 29, 2009
OGDEN, Utah. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball squad battled for five sets with Utah State University and came out on top, winning the decisive fifth set 15-8 to defeat the Aggies in the Zags second match of the Weber State University Invitational. The Bulldogs, who gave new head coach Dave Gantt his first Gonzaga victory, won 20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 15-8. "I really liked our personality today, we were extremely steady, the way we needed to be," stated Gantt. "This victory is validating to our players that this is not rocket science; you just have to take care of a few details. The difference between yesterday and today is what was going on in their minds. They now understand that they have more control in these outcomes by virtue of their performance." Gonzaga (1-1), down 2-1 after three sets, used a total team effort in set four to force the decisive fifth set. Utah State (1-1) held a two point lead late in the set at 18-16, but a four-point Gonzaga swing gave the Bulldogs their own two point edge at 20-18. The Aggies pulled within one of tying the set at 22-21, but a kill by senior Layne Brosky, followed by a block assist by both Brosky and junior Caitlin Cozad, along with a final kill by senior Michelle Boevers secured the victory. It was all Gonzaga in the final set as it held Utah State to just three kills on 24 total attack attempts. The Bulldogs turned a 4-4 tie into a 14-6 lead on the offensive of sophomore Kaprina Goodwin, who tallied two kills during the Zags run, and the blocking ability of Goodwin, Cozad, and Boevers who combined for four blocks.
"We went right out and scored the first couple of points in the fifth set and forced a Utah State timeout at the turn," explained Gantt. "We scored the next four out of five points to force another Utah State timeout. We were hopefully that they [Utah State] would make a mistake, but it took us three balls to get to 15 when Layne got a kill for the win." Gonzaga had three players finish in double-digit kills in the come-from-behind victory. Brosky led the way with a career-high 18 kills. Boevers added 13 kills and a career-high 11 digs, while Goodwin registered her first career double-double, finishing with 10 kills and 11 digs; both career-highs. "For the match we out-dug them, out-blocked them and out-hit them. We really put ourselves in a good position when we do those things," said Gantt whose team finished with a 68-49 advantage in digs, 17-12 edge in blocks and a 56-53 lead in kills. Cozad and Goodwin were the Zags leaders defensively above the net. Cozad registered a school record 15 block assists; the first player to finish with double-figure block assists in two seasons, while Goodwin combined for seven blocks. Emily Kortsen and Christine Morrill led the way for Utah State with 12 kills and 24 digs, respectively. Gonzaga will close out play at the Weber State Invitational tonight with a match against host Weber State at 6:30 p.m. Free live video is available at www.bigskytv.org. |
