 |
Volleyball Begins Three-Match Homestand
Oct. 7, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
Match 18 Match 19 THIS WEEK: The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team welcomes West Coast Conference foes Saint Mary's College and Santa Clara University, along with in-state rival Eastern Washington University to the Martin Centre. The Zags open their WCC home slate against the Gaels on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m., followed by a match against the Broncos on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 12:30 p.m. The Bulldogs non-conference match against the Eagles is slated for Monday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. RECAP OF LAST WEEK: Gonzaga University women's volleyball opened its 2008 West Coast Conference season with setbacks to both the University of San Diego and the University of San Francisco. The Bulldogs, playing on the road, dropped a 3-0 decision to #16 San Diego, before a 3-1 loss at San Francisco. ON TAP NEXT WEEK: After its three-match homestand, the Gonzaga University women's volleyball squad hits the road for two West Coast Conference matches. The Bulldogs will play at Pepperdine University Thursday, Oct. 16 and at Loyola Marymount University Saturday, Oct. 18. ABOUT THE GAELS: Saint Mary's College currently holds an 11-4 overall record and is 1-1 in West Coast Conference play. The Gaels, who received votes in the latest AVCA Top-25 poll, lost a tough 3-2 decision to #15 Pepperdine University it their opening WCC match of the season. SMC then rebounded to earn a 3-1 victory over Loyola Marymount University. Saint Mary's is led by Megan York who is averaging 4.13 kills and 3.50 digs per set. Gonzaga University holds a slight 23-20 lead in the all-time series and won the last meeting between the two schools. The Bulldogs claimed a 3-1 victory at the Martin Centre on Oct. 27, 2007. ABOUT THE BRONCOS: Santa Clara University holds a 10-3 overall record on the season and is a perfect 2-0 in West Coast Conference action. The Broncos defeated both Loyola Marymount University (3-1) and #15 Pepperdine University (3-2) to open WCC action last weekend. The victory over the Waves gave Pepperdine's its first loss of the season. Santa Clara is led by Anna Cmaylo, the reigning WCC Player of the Week, who is averaging 2.85 kills, 1.10 blocks and 1.02 digs per set. The Broncos holds the 36-6 lead in the all-time series and have won the last 26 meetings over the Bulldogs. ABOUT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington University holds a 6-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Big Sky Conference action. Eastern is coming off of a disappointing road trip that saw the team drop 3-0 and 3-1 decisions to the University of Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona University, respectively. The Eagles hold a 23-15 lead in the all-time series with Gonzaga University, but the Bulldogs have won the last two meetings. DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Gonzaga University freshman setter Denise Van de Mortel has six double-doubles to her credit this season; third best in the West Coast Conference. Emily Day of Loyola Marymount University leads the WCC with 11 double-doubles and Megan York, of Saint Mary's College, is second with nine. TWENTY-SIX: Senior libero Paige Dillingham broke her career dig record, well actually she shattered her career dig record against Boise State University, Sept. 5. Dillingham finished the 3-1 victory with 26 digs. Her previous best was 17 attained this season against both the University of Montana and North Dakota State University. Along with being a personal-high, Dillingham's 26 digs was also the highest individual dig amount in a single-match since 2004 when Jessica Herrera also had 26 against the University of Portland. Dillingham is averaging a team-best 3.73 digs per set; second best in the West Coast Conference. DOMINATING THE AIRWAVES: Senior middle blocker Elaina Renius had a career-high 12 blocks to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-1 victory over Boise State University, Sept. 5. Her 12 blocks, eight of which were block assists, were the most blocks by an individual Zag player since former Bulldog Briawna Mueller collected 12 against San Francisco in 2005. Renius was also just four blocks shy of breaking former Zag and current assistant coach Abby (Cullen) Bennett's school record of 15, set against Portland in 2002. LEADING THE WAY: Senior Elaina Renius continues to lead the West Coast Conference with 82.0 total blocks and is second in total kills with 232. She had a career-high 22 kills against Washington State. A DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Junior outside hitter Emily Johnson recorded her second career double-double against North Dakota State University, Aug. 30. Johnson tallied 11 kills and 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. LEFTY HAS CAREER-HIGH NIGHT: Layne Brosky, a junior for the Gonzaga University volleyball squad, finished with a career-tying and match-high 17 kills in the Zags 3-1 setback to the University of San Francisco. The left handed hitter, whose previous best this season was 15 at Washington State University Sept. 10, tied a career-high mark in kills that she set the opening weekend of her freshman campaign, two seasons ago. She last had 17 kills against North Dakota State University Aug. 26, 2006; it was Brosky's third match in a Bulldog uniform. HEAD COACH Kip Yoshimura: Kip Yoshimura is in his seventh year as Gonzaga University's head coach. Yoshimura has compiled a 53-140 record during his tenure with the Bulldogs. A former assistant coach at Gonzaga during the 1992 season, Yoshimura has complied a 301-208 career record which includes nine seasons at Lewis-Clark State College where he guided the Warriors to nine-straight NAIA tournament appearances. A 1990 graduate of Long Beach State University, Yoshimura entered the coaching ranks as a student-assistant on Long Beach State's 1989 NCAA National Championship team. VOLLEYBALL RULE CHANGES: NCAA volleyball rules changes this year include three important changes. First, the term "set" has replaced the word "game" as it is used internationally. Second, the number of points to win a set has been reduced from 30 to 25. Teams must still win by two points and the fifth set will still be played to 15. And lastly, because sets are now shorter, the number of allowable subs per set has been reduced from 15 to 12. LIVE ON THE INTERNET: All Gonzaga University women's volleyball home matches are available via Gametracker and live streaming on the internet at www.gozags.com. Check the Gonzaga website for all Gametracker and live streaming links. Gametracker for selected away matches are also available. Check out gozags.com for all Gametracker links. BULLDOGS TABBED 7TH IN WCC COACHES POLL: The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team has been selected to finish seventh in the West Coast Conference for the 2008 season according to a preseason vote of the league's head coaches. The University of San Diego was selected as the preseason favorite to take home WCC regular season title, narrowly edging out Pepperdine University and Santa Clara University. Women's Volleyball 2008 Preseason Poll
|
