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Zags Close Out Season; Host Portland Saturday
Nov. 20, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
Match 31 THIS WEEK: The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team closes out its 2008 season when it welcomes West Coast Conference foe University of Portland at the Martin Centre this Saturday. The Bulldogs will match-up with the Pilots on Senior Day at 1 p.m. SENIOR FAREWELL: Three Gonzaga University seniors will put on their Gonzaga University women's volleyball jersey's for the last time Saturday against the University of Portland. Middle blocker Elaina Renius from Grants Pass, Ore., outside hitter Tianna Tuatagaloa from San Rafael, Calif., and libero Paige Dillingham of Bakersfield, Calif. will each say goodbye on Saturday. Renius had played in 326 sets over her three seasons with the Bulldogs, Tuatagaloa 113 sets and Dillingham 349. The three will be honored in per-match ceremonies. ABOUT THE PILOTS: The University of Portland currently holds a 6-23 overall record and are 0-13 in the West Coast Conference. The Pilots, who last won on Oct. 27 with a 3-1 victory over Cal State Bakersfield, is led by Ashley Grayson with a team-best 3.29 kills per set, along with 1.74 digs per set. The Bulldogs, who lead the all-time series over the Pilots 31-15, have won four-straight over UP including a 3-0 sweep on Oct. 25. CAREER TOP 10: Senior Elaina Renius is all over the Gonzaga University women's volleyball career record book. Renius is fourth in total solo blocks with 106. She bumped current assistant Abby (Cullen) Bennett, who finished her career with 87 solo blocks, into fifth place with her total. Renius is also tied for seventh in total blocks with 336 and 10th overall in block assists with 230. TOPS IN BLOCKS: Senior Elaina Renius has 38 solo blocks to her credit this season; second highest in a single-season in Gonzaga University women's volleyball history. The middle blocker needs just two more solo blocks to tie Lisa Petticord's record of 40 set in 1989 or three more to become the all-time single-season leader in solo blocks. SINGLE-SEASON TOP 10: Senior Paige Dillingham has etched a place in the Gonzaga University women's volleyball record book in her first season as the Bulldogs starting libero. Dillingham has amassed 401 total digs as the libero this season to rank her fifth in the single-season Top 10. Linda Bushinski is the all-time leader in single-season digs with 436 set in 1986. DOMINATING THE AIRWAVES: Senior middle blocker Elaina Renius had a career-high 12 blocks to lead the Gonzaga University women's volleyball team 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 112.0 total blocks and is third in total kills with 379. She had a career-high 24 kills against Eastern Washington University. TOPS IN WCC: Gonzaga University freshman setter Denise Van de Mortel has eight double-doubles to her credit this season; third best in the West Coast Conference. Emily Day of Loyola Marymount University leads the WCC with 16 double-doubles and Megan York, of Saint Mary's College, is second with 13. Van de Mortel continues to pace the conference with 1169 assists on the season. 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 has 401 digs to her credit this season; second best in the West Coast Conference. HEAD COACH Kip Yoshimura: Kip Yoshimura is in his seventh year as Gonzaga University's head coach. Yoshimura has compiled a 57-150 record during his tenure with the Bulldogs. A former assistant coach at Gonzaga during the 1992 season, Yoshimura has complied a 308-222 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.
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