Cougars, Irish Keep Rolling At Spikeoff Spokane
Washington State (6-0) and Notre Dame (4-1) both took less than 90 minutes to defeat their Saturday morning opponents at Spike off Spokane at the Arena.
The Cougars, ranked No. 6 in this week’s USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll, defeated host-team Gonzaga 15-1, 15-2, 15-11, dropping the Bulldogs to 3-3.
No. 20 Notre Dame (4-1) swept Utah, 15-1, 15-8, 17-15 to drop the Utes to 1-3.
In Saturday night’s matches, Gonzaga was scheduled to meet Utah, followed by the Washington State vs. Norte Dame marquee match.
Notre Dame 3, Utah 0
Mary Leffers’ kill ended the tight third game that allowed the Irish to sweep past the Utes in the opening match. It was the first meeting between the Big East Conference and Western Athletic Conference teams.
After winning the first two games relatively easy, Utah fought back in the third and led by as much as 13-8. But a service error by Utah’s Kalani Tonga began the slide. The third game was tied at 14-14 and 15-15.
Jaimie Lee of Spokane led the Irish with 14 kills on 33 attempts and also recorded a team-high nine digs. Her total hitting percen tage was .333.
Senior outside hitter Brenda Barton-Whicker, the Utes’ most feared hitter throughout the tournament, landed eight kills but also had eight hitting errors.
WSU 3, Gonzaga 0
Keren Oigman had a match-high 10 kills, eight in the first game, and nine digs as the Cougars made easy work out of the Bulldogs for the second time this year.
“I think we’re all competitive at heart, and it hurts to lose. But when we play top 20 teams and then go to conference, I think we have a better chance,” said Gonzaga senior hitter Theresa Spink, who led her team with seven kills.
The Bulldogs played out of sync beginning Friday night in a three-game loss to Notre Dame. It carried into Saturday morning’s match, hitting .000 percent in the first game against Washington State and a dismal minus .137 in the second game.
“We lost our fire or something in the second game Friday night and we didn’t find it until the third game today,” said first-year Gonzaga coach Eva Windlin-Jansen, whose club lost to the Irish in three on Friday.
Gonzaga, trailing the series with Washington State 19-9, stayed closer in the third game and trailed by only 14-11 when Gonzaga reserve Casey Murdock scored on a service ace.
Washington State finished the match when Jennifer Stinton and reserve Lucie Vratnickova blocked Erinn Kelly’s attempted kill.
Murdock, a sophomore hitter, along with freshman reserve hitter Kelly and sophomore reserve hitter Megan Hosek, played in place of starters Diane Pascua, Sharee Coad and Aimee Wilson in the final game.
, DataTimes MEMO: Changed in the Spokane edition.