STANDINGS
WCC Roundup: Oct. 25, 2018
#1 BYU DEF. PORTLAND 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-20)
- #1 BYU improves to 21-0 (11-0, WCC); Portland falls to 16-6 (4-6, WCC)
- Portland, Oregon
- Attendance: 2,259
- Box Score
- BYU Release | Portland Release
The Cougars remain undefeated at 21-0 and continue to support their place as the top team in the country, while Portland now drops further below .500 in league play after making a charge toward that line. It was an impressive effort from the home crowd, who broke the school’s volleyball attendance record.
It wasn’t the only milestone surpassed in the match. For BYU, setter Lyndie Haddock-Eppich surpassed 3,000 career assists, becoming the fifth rally era player and ninth overall in program history to do so after coming into the night 14 away. She stuffed the stat sheet too with 34 assists, 7 digs, 5 blocks and 4 kills (.667).
The Cougars hit .351 for the match and held a huge 13-4 blocking advantage. Heather Gneiting (13 kills, .524, 9 blocks) had a phenomenal day, while Roni Jones-Perry (13 kills, .222, 3 blocks) and McKenna Miller (11 kills, .550, 3 blocks) added to the point-scoring.
For Portland, they kept pace in the serve and back-row defense, but couldn’t slow BYU and countered by hitting .160. Izzy Guzik (9 kills, .294, 5 digs) led the way while Shayla Hoeft (7 kills, .267) and Katie Barker (6 kills, .250) hit at a solid rate. Reghan Pukis was second on the team in kills (8), but hit just .029.
Next Up: BYU stays on the road in the Pacific Northwest to battle Gonzaga while Portland stays at home for a meeting with another top-tier WCC team in San Diego.
SAN DIEGO DEF. GONZAGA 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-22)
- San Diego improves to 12-9 (9-2, WCC); Gonzaga falls to 6-15 (3-7, WCC)
- Spokane, Washington
- Attendance: 452
- Box Score
- San Diego Release | Gonzaga Release
The Toreros continue to bounce back after a slow start to both the overall season and conference season, as they improved to 9-2 with a win at Gonzaga. It was all about their floor defense as they won the battle of digs 45-36 and held the Bulldogs to a .117 mark.
Offensively it wasn’t the best match for San Diego, though it wasn’t poor either and they did show balance with Addie Picha (10 kills, .562), Roxie Wiblin (10 kills, .118, 8 digs) and Megan Jacobsen (8 kills, .462) leading the way. Kelli Barry (18 digs) headlined a defense that only had four blocks but were stingy all around.
No player for Gonzaga had more than seven kills, which was the amount that Sarah Penner (.105, 3 blocks) and Perry Ramsey (7 kills, .111) reached. Chapin Gray (6 kills, .500) and Katelyn Oppio (5 kills .182, 4 blocks) were next in line for total kills.
Next Up: The Toreros still have two more on the road, continuing on Saturday at Portland before a big meeting at #1 BYU next Friday. Gonzaga on the other hand hosts those same Cougars on Saturday.
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT DEF. SAN FRANCISCO 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22)
- Loyola Marymount improves to 16-6 (6-5, WCC); San Francisco falls to 8-14 (1-10, WCC)
- Los Angeles, California
- Attendance: 164
- Box Score
- LMU Release | USF Release
Led by an aggressive serve and star performance, Loyola Marymount was able to take down San Francisco 3-1 in a match where each side reached 20+ points in all four games.
The Lions ended with a .259 hitting percentage and 9 aces to 13 serve errors. They also had 12 more digs (54-42), in part due to Kekai Whitford (16 digs). Offensively though is where the show was at for LMU, as Sara Kovac (21 kills, .364, 5 digs) was unstoppable in leading her team to victory. Bo Culo (13 kills, 11 digs) and Tess Reid (50 assists, 11 digs, 5 blocks, 4 aces) added double-doubles.
Meanwhile for San Francisco, Kathya Garcia (12 kills, 12 digs, 4 blocks), Emily Zinger (10 kills, .304, 6 blocks) and Lena Bondar (10 kills, .227) all had double-digit kill efforts. Erin Anthony (18 assists, 11 digs) had a double-double too.
Next Up: The Lions will stay at home to host Santa Clara. San Francisco will stick around in the L.A. area and go to Malibu to take on Pepperdine on Saturday.
PEPPERDINE DEF. SANTA CLARA 3-1 (26-24, 25-16, 17-25, 25-13)
- Pepperdine improves to 14-7 (8-3, WCC); Santa Clara falls to 6-17 (1-10, WCC)
- Malibu, California
- Attendance: 309
- Box Score
- Pepperdine Release | Santa Clara Release
Pepperdine exploded in the second and fourth sets, while squeaking out the first to earn a four-set victory over Santa Clara and move a half game ahead of Saint Mary’s for third in the WCC.
The Waves hit .224 despite being out-blocked 14-6. That was in large part due to Shannon Scully (15 kills, .233, 8 digs, 4 blocks), Hannah Frohling (14 kills, .235) and Heidi Dyer (13 kills, .370). That three-headed monster matched the total amount of kills from Santa Clara as a unit. Blossom Sato (48 assists) and Hana Lishman (21 digs) were also key.
In the losing effort for Santa Clara, Allison Kantor (12 kills, .194, 12 digs) helped them stay feisty. They struggled in putting down kills though, with Michelle Shaffer (9 kills, .152, 7 digs, 5 blocks) and Kathryn Decker (6 kills, .182) the next closest to double-digit kills. Their biggest plus, the block, was led by Taylor Odom (7 blocks, 5 kills, .095).
Next Up: Santa Clara stays around southern California to meet up with Loyola Marymount. Pepperdine stays around too and will host San Francisco.
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