Oct. 15, 2005

Gonzaga - 3
Saint Mary's - 1

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University volleyball team picked up the biggest win of the Kip Yoshimura era on Saturday night as the Bulldogs (10-11, 2-3 WCC) upset No. 25 Saint Mary's College (13-4, 4-1 WCC) in four games at the Martin Centre. It was only the third time in program history that the Bulldogs have defeated a ranked opponent, the last coming on Sept. 11, 1993 when they defeated No. 22 Texas Tech University in four games. Gonzaga won the match 25-30, 30-16, 30-27, 30-25.

After dropping game one, Gonzaga rallied behind the hot hitting of senior Lacey Bell to hit .410 as a team during the 30-16 game two win. Bell hammered down five kills as Gonzaga had 18 as a team with only 2 errors in the game. Bell continued to spark the Bulldogs in games three and four as she finished with 15 kills.

Gonzaga used the steady hitting of Becky Jones and Michelle Boevers in game three as they jumped out to a quick lead and battled to win the match. GU and SMC traded the lead eight times in the game before Gonzaga could pull ahead. Jones and Boevers each had 19 kills for the Zags. Jones also added 19 digs to pick up her 12th double-double of the season.

"This was by far the best win our program has had in a long time," said an excited Bulldogs head coach Kip Yoshimura. "We have been close to knocking off a ranked team several times in the last couple of years and tonight we finally pushed through and finished one of them off."

Gonzaga indeed game out prepared to finish off the Gaels in game four as they quickly built a double-digit lead. Gonzaga led 26-14 before Saint Mary's rallied to cut the lead to 26-21. The two teams then traded points before Boevers ended the night with a cross court kill.

Missie Stidham helped serve the Gaels back into the contest during game four and was a big factor during Saint Mary's game one win as she lead all players with 25 kills. Kaui Salzman contributed 11 kills to round out the top Saint Mary's attackers.

Both teams battled at the net with each team finishing with 16 team blocks. Briawna Mueller led the Zags with nine blocks including three solo blocks while Jones also had three solo blocks. Christina Kirk had 11 blocks for Saint Mary's, 10 of them coming on block assists. Stidham also had seven block assists and one block solo.

In addition to knocking off a ranked team for the first time in 12 years, Gonzaga also reached double figure wins for the first time since 1996 when GU finished the season 13-19.

"Tonight's win shows our players that they can compete with anybody in our league if we stick to our game plan and play to our strengths," Yoshimura added. "Last night we let a win slip away against San Francisco. I can't tell you how proud I am of our team for turning out the type of effort we had tonight. A lot of times after a hard loss like the USF one a team just comes out flat. We didn't do that tonight and picked up a big win."

Gonzaga returns to the road next week with three matches. The week starts with a Tuesday night match at Eastern Washington University before weekend West Coast Conference action at Loyola Marymount University and Pepperdine University.

Santa Clara - 3
San Diego - 1

Santa Clara, Calif. - In a heavyweight battle between two West Coast Conference powers, No. 14 Santa Clara took out No. 15 San Diego 3-1 in a highly anticipated match this afternoon at the Leavey Center. The outside hitting trio Cassie Perret, Kim McGiven, and Brittany Lowe led the way for the Broncos on offense, as they combined for 41 kills on the afternoon. Defensively, the team had a season high 20 blocks, with middle blocker Anna Cmaylo tallying a career high 12 blocks, while McGiven added six total blocks in the 27-30, 30-8, 30-15, and 31-29 win. The Broncos improve to 16-1 overall and 5-0 in conference, while the Toreros fall to 14-3 in 2005 and 3-2 in the WCC.

The contest between two of the top conference teams was marred, however, by an early injury to Torero outside hitter Kristen Carlson. The redshirt junior was the WCC leader in both kills (5.45) and points (5.87) per game and her absence clearly affected San Diego's play.

"Whenever you see an athlete go down with an injury, it puts a damper on the night," said head coach Jon Wallace. "We've had our share of injuries and it's really sad, especially for a college athlete. So I think the match was marred by [the injury]."

In the first game, San Diego bolted to an 8-3 lead after a series of Santa Clara hitting errors, prompting Wallace to call a timeout. Cmaylo and setter Crystal Matich responded with a resounding block on the following play, though the Torero attack would not let up and the visitors built a 17-9 edge, forcing Wallace to burn another timeout. A flurry of hitting errors by USD allowed SCU to catch up in a hurry, and it looked like momentum might shift towards the home team for good after Carlson went down with an injury late in the game. In the end, USD held on to win Game One 30-27 after a ball handling error by Perret.

Shaking off the loss of the opening frame, Santa Clara played great defense to completely take over Game Two, winning it 30-8. The eight points is the fewest allowed in a match this season and one of the lowest totals in school history since the beginning of the rally scoring era. McGiven got the ball rolling with two early blocks and middles Annalisa Muratore and Cmaylo made their presence known up at the net, touching everything that came their way. In the back row, libero Caroline Walters played superb defense and was a digging machine for Santa Clara. The game ended on an attack error by San Diego.

The Toreros came out with a more competitive attitude in the third frame, hanging early with the Broncos. After a USD kill, SCU owned a slim 10-8 advantage. Behind the strong serving of Perret, the home team went on a 6-0 run to essentially seal the game. Santa Clara would continue to apply the pressure on both ends of the court and built a lead as big as 14 points down the stretch. Two late kills by McGiven gave SCU the 30-16 triumph.

Game Four started off very much like Game Three, with both squads matching each other point for point. Midway through the frame, the Toreros took a three-point lead at 19-16 after a kill by the visiting team. The Broncos mounted a comeback behind two kills by McGiven and a service ace by Matich, tying it up at 19 all. Santa Clara forged ahead 27-24, but San Diego evened the score at 28-28 after a USD service ace. On the next play, Lowe came up big with a cross-court kill to set up match point for the home team, but a Torero kill silenced the loud home crowd. A thundering kill by Muratore once again put SCU in position to win the contest and a block by Perret and Muratore ended the match.

Santa Clara continues its quest for the 2005 WCC crown when they visit Bay Area rivals San Francisco and Saint Mary's next weekend. The contest with the Dons will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 21, while the match with the Gaels will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 22.