Box Score Box Score
SPOKANE, Wash. --- The Portland Pilots volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 26-24) to Gonzaga Saturday at the Martin Center. The match was the first West Coast Conference contest of Portland’s 2009 campaign.
UP now sits at 4-12 (0-1 WCC), while Gonzaga improves to 5-8 (1-0 WCC).
Junior Jessica Clemens paced the Pilots with nine kills and nine digs, both good enough for the team high. Sophomore Marissa Plummer posted six kills and one block assist, while senior Shelley Sievers recorded five kills and two blocks total including a solo stuff.
Despite the Pilots hitting .214 as a team, marking the squad’s fourth-highest hitting efficiency so far this season, they were unable to overcome a hot-hitting Gonzaga side.
Every single Gonzaga player that saw court time hit above .200 giving the Bulldogs a .423 hitting percentage for the match. Layne Brosky and Kaprina Goodwin led the way with 14 kills and eight kills respectively highlighted by a .650 and .800 hitting clip, respectively. Meanwhile, Laura Day corralled a match-best 14 digs, while Kelsey Bashaw dished out a match-high 26 assists for the Bulldogs.
“Credit to Gonzaga for playing well and maintaining a high level of intensity throughout,” said head coach Joe Houck. “We got stronger as the match went on. We need to repeat that concept and learn to prepare so we can begin the matches at an acceptable level.”
Portland had some firepower of its own with freshman Ariel Usher registering six kills on 10 swings with no errors for .600 hitting efficiency to complement one block.
“Several of our younger players really stepped up,” said Houck. “Ariel, Madison (Smith) and Kate (Bostwick) were instrumental in the third set fight.”
Portland freshman Madison Smith had a team-high 17 assists, while freshman Kate Bostwick posted two kills, one dig and one service ace. Bostwick currently leads the team this season with .29 service aces per set.
Down by two sets and trailing 14-8 in the third set, the Pilots rallied back with must-win urgency to deliver a 10-4 run, bringing the score to 18-18. From there, the two teams exchanged points to tie it up at 19, 21, 22, 23 and 24 before Gonzaga’s Layne Brosky would hammer two consecutive kills to seal the match win for the Bulldogs at 26-24. Jessica Clemens scored four of Portland’s 10 points on the 10-4 mid-set run. Bostwick recorded both her match kills late in the third set.
Portland started the first set with an 8-2 deficit, before a Rachel Femling kill and some Bulldog errors would tighten the score to 9-6. But Gonzaga would run away on a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 19-8 and eventually close out the set comfortably at 25-12.
The second set started tight with the score even at 4-4 and 5-5 before the Bulldogs would surge to a four-point advantage at 11-7. UP bounced back to score four consecutive points thanks to one kill apiece from Jessica Clemens, Maria Clemens and Femling and bolstered by a Gonzaga error. The score continued to be all tied up at 11, 12 and 13 before Gonzaga would reclaim the lead for good and take the set at 25-18.
The Pilots return home next weekend for West Coast Conference matches against Loyola Marymount on Thursday, Oct. 8 and Pepperdine on Saturday, Oct. 10. First serve against LMU is on-tap for 7:00 p.m. with live stats available at www.portlandpilots.com
