WCC Volleyball: Gonzaga Sweeps Portland

The Bulldogs hit .223 for the match and had a strong individual effort from Becky Jones who finished the match with 12 kills and 12 digs.

Photo courtesy: UP Athletics

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Portland Pilots volleyball team fell short 0-3 in a tough match to Gonzaga Saturday afternoon at the Martin Center.

The Bulldogs improve to 14-17 and 2-3 in the WCC. Gonzaga won 30-20, 32-30, 30-27. UP falls to 7-12 and 0-5 in the WCC.

The Pilots were led by the Clemens sisters.

Sophomore Maria Clemens finished with a team high 13 kills and freshman Jessica Clemens had a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs.

The Bulldogs hit .223 for the match and had a strong individual effort from Becky Jones who finished the match with 12 kills and 12 digs.

Game one was tied 2-2 early when the Bulldogs went on a 10-3 run to take a 12-5 lead.

The Pilots would fight back to cut the Gonzaga lead to five points 16-11 on a big block by junior Ashley Grayson and Maria Clemens.

Portland would continue to play tough going on a 3-0 run to reduce the Gonzaga lead to three points 20-17.

The 3-0 run included 2 kills by Maria Clemens and an ace by senior Kara Pein.

The Bulldogs would respond with by going on a 10-3 run to win the game 30-20. Gonzaga hit .333 and had three players with five kills each for the game. The Pilots were led by Maria Clemens who had six kills.

A kill by junior Jennifer Sheedy gave UP an early 3-2 edge in game two. After a kill by Grayson Gonzaga committed back-to-back attack errors giving the Pilots a 6-3 lead.

The Bulldogs would come back and tie the game at 7-7 on a kill by Briawna Muller. The Zags would take a 9-7 when Jessica Clemens nailed her first kill of the game to cut the Bulldogs lead to one point 9-8.

Gonzaga would go on a 6-1 run going up 15-9 forcing coach Sparks to call his first time out of the game.

The Pilots would respond out of the time out by going on a 6-1 run of its own to cut the Bulldogs lead to one point 16-15. The 6-1 run included two kills by Jessica Clemens, a block and a kill by Maria Clemens, and an ace by freshman Danielle Dupar.

The game would be tied at 18-18 on a Pilots block and once again at 20-20 on a solo block by Pein. Gonzaga would go up 22-20 but UP would rally and get the next two points to tie the game at 22-22.

Portland would take the lead 27-26 on a kill by Maria Clemens. The Zags would take a 30-29 lead but the Pilots would respond with a kill by Jessica Clemens to tie the game at 30-30.

The Bulldogs would get the next two points on back-to-back kills to win the game 32-30. The Pilots were led by Jessica Clemens who had six kills in the game.

Sheedy would again get things started in the right direction for the Pilots with a kill to open game three giving UP a 1-0 lead.

Portland would maintain its one point lead on a kill by Grayson to go up 5-4. The Bulldogs would tie the game at 5-5 on a kill by Becky Jones.

Portland would regain the lead 7-5 thanks in part to the efforts of Pein who had a block assistant and a kill.

UP held a 12-11 lead as Jessica Clemens came up with a big kill to UP in front by two points 13-11.

A solo block by Mueller would allow the Zags to tie the game at 13-13.

Gonzaga would take a 16-15 edge but Portland responded right back with a kill from Sheedy to tie the game at 16-16.

The Bulldogs would go on a 5-2 run capped off by an Alecia Douglas ace to go up 21-18. Back-to-back Bulldog blocks would put Gong up 25-20.

A kill by Sheedy once again made it a four point game with the Zags up 25-21. Gonzaga had a 27-22 lead when UP got back-to-back kills from Senior Kelly Whitehouse and Grayson.

The Bulldogs maintained the four point lead 28-24 on a kill by Heather Dunn. Kills by Grayson and Maria Clemens cut the Zags lead down to three 29-26. Gonazga would hold on for the 30-27 win.

Pein had a good all around effort finishing with 32 assists, four total blocks, three kills and an ace.

Grayson led the Pilots with six total blocks for the match.

Portland will stay on the road as they continue WWC play. The Pilots will be at San Diego for a match with the Toreros at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday Oct. 18. UP will then travel to San Francisco to take on the Dons at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday Oct. 20.

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