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Going hard for five sets, Gonzaga got the best of Santa Clara in five sets Friday night at the Leavey Center. Set scores were 25-22, 25-18, 15-25, 14-25 and 18-16. The Broncos move to 13-6 and 3-3 in the WCC and Gonzaga is 13-4 and 4-2 in the WCC. It was Gonzaga's second straight five set match as they won 3-2 at USF on Thursday.
The Broncos hit .222 with 65 kills (26 e, 176 att.). They collected 62 assists, four aces, eight service errors, 58 digs and seven team blocks.
Nikki Hess led the Broncos with 19 kills, hitting .224 (8 e, 49 att.). Sabrina Clayton scored 15 kills, hitting .289 (2 e, 45 att). Taylor Milton added 11 kills and Kaity Edwards scored 10. Danielle Rottman had 23 kidgs, Milton added 11 and Hess 10. Kirsten Mead had 57 assists and five digs.
The Zags hit .302 with 71 kills (23 e, 159 att.). They collected 68 assists, two aces, three service errors, 73 digs and 13 team blocks.
Savannah Blinn led the Zags with 25 kills, hitting .246 (10 e, 61 att.). Jordan Gasser added 21 kills and Kaylie Wimbush had 17. Lauren Joseph had 60 assists and 16 digs. Morgan Douglas had 19 digs and Nikki Leonard scored 16.
The Zags started the match on a 4-1 run. Hess stopped the run with a kill off the block, but GU added five of six more to take a 9-3 lead. Timeout Broncos. The Broncos scored two of the next three before the Zags scored twice to take a 12-5 lead. Timeout Broncos.
The Broncos scored three times out of the break, 12-8 GU. The Zags added a couple and then SCU scored two of the next three. The Broncos continued to chip away and pulled within three on a kill cross court by Hess, 17-14 GU. Rottman's ace in the back court and an attack error by Gasser brought SCU within two. Timeout Zags. Loewen's attempt didn't clear the net and Mead collected a kill to tie it up. Loewen smacked it way out to put the Broncos up 21-20. Timeout Zags. Clayton smacked it to an empty back row. After the Zags got a sideout, Calkins connected in the middle for a kill, 23-21 Broncos. Blinn scored a kill, but Calkins matched her in the back row for set point. SCU hit .182 with 16 kills and GU hit .135 with 12 kills. Calkins led the Bronco attack with five kills in six attempts.
Natasha Calkins and Clayton teamed up for a block and Clayton scored down the line to start set two. After a GU sideout, Clayton and Hess added back-to-back kills down the line before a GU hitting error. Hess got up on the ball for a kill and Dave Gantt had seen enough – timeout Zags, down 6-1. Hess and Calkins teamed up for a block after a long rally. After the Zags scored a sideout, Calkins scored off the block and Edwards popped up in the middle for another, 9-2 SCU. SCU marched ahead, scoring five of the next seven, 14-4 SCU. Timeout Zags. SCU scored a couple more, outscoring the Zags 30-9 over the last two games. GU tacked on a couple points, but Clayton collected a kill in the back row. Hess crushed it again cross court, 20-9 SCU. Milton and Calkins went up for a team block and the lead was 11 again. After Gonzaga scored five of the next six, SCU called for time, up 22-15. GU scored three of four out of the timeout, 23-18 SCU. Edwards smacked it cross court on the slide for set point. Clayton and Calkins ended the set the way they began it, with a team block, 25-18.
The Broncos started the third set with an ace by Mead. But the Zags rolled off five straight to take a 5-1 lead before SCU called for time. The Broncos rallied to cut the Zags lead to three, 10-7 GU. GU scored three of the next four to run its lead to 13-8. Calkins and Hess scored kills as SCU collected three straight points to trail 13-11. The Zags added three more and SCU called for time, trailing 16-11. The Zags finished off the Broncos 25-11 in the third set. SCU hit .226 with 11 kills and Gonzaga hit .485 with 17 kills.
Milton and Calkins teamed up for a block to open the fourth set. The teams tied it up twice in the early going and then GU scored three straight. Timeout Broncos, down 5-2. The Zags blocked their fourth straight point before they served it into the net, leading 6-3. The Zags scored three of the next four, including an ace, before Clayton stopped the run with a kill off the block, 9-5 GU. GU started another run, this one 6-1, to take a 15-6 lead. Calkins scored kills on two of the next three points, 16-8 GU. After the Broncos rallied for two, GU marched ahead 20-11. GU scored three of the next five, 23-13. Gasser's kill off the block gave GU set point and then a team block gave them the fourth set 25-14. SCU hit .091 with nine kills and GU hit .481 with 17 kills.
The teams knotted it up twice in the opening minutes of the deciding set. GU took a 5-2 lead on back-to-back kills and then blocked an attempt by Hess. Timeout Broncos. Hess scored cross court, but GU got the sideout quickly and scored two more, 7-3 GU. The two traded sideouts twice and Clayton added a kill in the back row. Milton scored of the block in back-to-back points and after a GU sideout, Hess tipped it for a kill, 12-10 GU. GU hit it way out and then called for time, up one, 12-11. The GU setter was whistled for an attack error and the set was tied 12-12. GU scored a couple points for match point and SCU called for time. Hess crushed it down in the back row for a sideout and then Edwards reacted quickly on the overpass for a kill in the middle to tie it up 14-14. GU scored the sideout coming out of its timeout. Clayton scored down the line to tie it up 15-15. The two traded sideouts, with Clayton crushing it in the back row again, 16-16. GU scored the next two to win the match 18-16.
