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Zags Can't Close Out Match; Fall 3-2 To North Dakota State
Aug. 30, 2008
MISSOULA, Mont. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team seemingly was on its way to victory Saturday morning, having won the first two sets of its match against North Dakota State University, but the Bison forged a comeback, winning the final three sets to hand the Bulldogs their second loss of the season. Playing in its third match of the University of Montana Tournament, Gonzaga (1-2) won the first set two sets 25-22 and 25-13, before North Dakota (1-1) found its rhythm winning the final three 25-23, 26-24 and 15-10 to snatch the victory from the Bulldogs. Both teams had three players close out the match with double-figure kills. The Bulldogs were led by junior outside hitter Michelle Boevers who had a match-high 16 kills in the Zag setback. Senior middle blocker Elaina Renius added 15 kills, while junior outside hitter Emily Johnson tallied 11. Johnson also collected 11 digs in the loss to register her second career double-double. Her only other double-double came as a freshman when she had 13 kills and 11 digs against the University of Idaho. Defensively Gonzaga had multiple players stand out. Senior libero Paige Dillingham finished the contest with a match-high 17 digs, tying her career-high set yesterday against the University of Montana. Renius, on the other hand, controlled the airwaves for the Zags, blocking two Bison attack attempts and assisting on six others. Gonzaga finished the match with a slight 61-55 edge in kills and a 60-51 advantage in digs. Neither team had a spectacular hitting day, as the Bulldogs hit .199 and the Bison had a .153 attacking percentage. North Dakota State was led by Brooke VandenBergh who finished with 15 kills. Chrissy Knuth and Lauren McLaughlin contributed 12 and 10 kills, respectively for the Bison.
Gonzaga will round out the Montana Tournament with a match against UC Riverside tonight at 5 p.m. |
