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Zags Starve Off Elimination, Defeat Portland 3-2
Oct. 31, 2009
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team battled back from the brink of dropping a four-set match to the University of Portland to defeat the Pilots in five-sets at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore., on Saturday. The Bulldogs starved off two Pilot match points in the fourth set and three more UP match points in the fifth set to pull out the impressive 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 20-25, 29-27, 20-18) come-from-behind victory. Gonzaga improved its West Coast Conference record to 4-4 and is now 9-13 overall with its second 3-2 victory of the week. With the loss, Portland dropped to 5-18 on the year and 1-7 in conference. After splitting the first two sets, Portland gained control of the match with the five-point third set victory. The Pilots then looked to be on their way to their second conference win of the season after jumping out to a 17-15 lead in the fourth set. Gonzaga, not one to give up without a fight, strung together a 7-2 run to claim a three point advantage at 22-19. Three-straight points by Portland knotted the set at 22 apiece though and forced the Bulldogs to call a timeout. The set would tie at 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 with the Pilots one point away from victory at 25-24 and 26-25. The Zags continued to battle for every point and broke the final tie (27-27) on a kill by junior Caitlin Cozad. Gonzaga equaled the match at 2 all after the Pilots Shelley Sievers miss-hit the ball out of bounds. With new life and with the memory of defeating the University of Idaho in the fifth set on Tuesday fresh in its mind, Gonzaga took the floor ready for action. Portland was ready as well and opened the set running out to a 9-7 lead. The Bulldogs rattled off three-straight points to overtake the lead at 10-9. The set went on to tie at 10 and 11 but back-to-back errors by the Pilots gave GU some breathing room at 13-11. Portland would not go away though as it earned the next two points to tie the set at 13. Gonzaga was the first team to serve for match point at 14-13 but a kill by UP's Marissa Plummer tied the set once again. The Bulldogs again served for match point at 15-14 but another kill by UP tied the set. The Pilots broke through and took the lead at 16-15 and served for their first match point but the Bulldogs, like UP, tallied a kill, this time by sophomore Kaprina Goodwin, to knot the set at 16. Portland went on to have a chance to win the match serving at 17-16 and 18-17, but each time Gonzaga starved off elimination. Just like in the fourth set, the Bulldogs finally were able to put together run capture the intense match. Gonzaga, down 18-17, got consecutive kills by senior Layne Brosky and then a blocking error by the Pilots gave the Zags the 20-18 victory.
Gonzaga had three players finish in double-figure kills, including senior Michelle Boevers who collected a team-high 19 kills. Classmate Emily Johnson added 12 kills and Broksy registered 10. Cozad finished with seven kills and seven blocks, while Goodwin also chipped in seven kills and five blocks. Portland was led by Ariel Usher and Jessica Clemens who finished with 22 and 18 kills, respectively. Portland had an 83-61 edge in total kills and hit .235 compared to Gonzaga's .232. The Pilots held the 85-65 advantage in digs, while both teams had 13.0 team blocks. The Bulldogs return to action on Thursday, Nov. 5 when they play at Loyola Marymount University. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. |
