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Dons Rally Back, Down Zags 3-2
Oct. 15, 2009
(San Francisco) - After struggling early, the University of San Francisco women's volleyball team regrouped to come from behind and defeat visiting Gonzaga 3-2 (14-25, 14-25, 25-20, 25-14, 15-11) Thursday evening at War Memorial Gym. The Dons dropped the opening two sets before taking the victory by sweeping the final three sets of the West Coast Conference contest.
With the victory, San Francisco improved to 8-9 overall, 2-2 in league play, while Gonzaga falls to 6-11, 2-2 in WCC action.
USF struggled in the opening two sets, only leading in the first portion of each. In the opening set, the Dons went up 7-6, before the Zags wnet on a 19-7 run to close out the set. The second set wasn't much different on USF's end, hitting at a .207 clip, compared to Gonzaga's .552 hitting percentage. With the set tied 5-5 and the Zags' Caitlin Cozad serving, the Zags went up 10-6, leaving the Dons unable to comeback.
In the third set, the two teams played tight up to the middle of the set, when USF took the lead, 16-15, for good thanks to a kill by Alycia Cox. Gonzaga would threaten San Francisco coming with one point, but USF was unable to fend off the late rally to avoid a match-sweep.
San Francisco came out strong in the fourth set, committing just one hitting error, to post a .500 hitting percentage. The Dons jumped out to an early 6-1 lead thanks to the serving guidance of Haley Carroll. USF continued to roll in the set, advancing its lead to as many as 11 before shutting down the Zags 25-14 to force the decisive fifth set.
The two teams played close in the fifth set, with the score tied on four occasions and three lead changes. Gonzaga pulled within two, 12-10 but the Dons prevailed, earning three of the final five points.
Junior Sarah Mandala led the Dons on the evening thanks to her fourth double-double effort of the season. Mandala recorded 20 kills, 10 digs, a service ace, an assist and two blocks. The 20 kills marks the sixth time this season she has posted 20+ kills.
Anna Berger joined Mandala with double-digit kills in the match, with a season-high 13. Senior libero Haley Carroll added 20 digs, bringing her career total to 1,880. Also posted double-digit efforts for the Dons were Alaina Sully and Leanna Ludes, who spilt time running the offense with 30 and 23 assists, respectively.
Gonzaga was paced by Kelsey Bashaw, who fell two digs short of a triple-double. Bashaw recorded 10 kills, 22 assists, and eight digs while earned four blocks.
The Dons will return to action Saturday as the continue WCC play, hosting Portland at War Memorial Gym. First serve is slated for 1 p.m.
