Zags Gear Up for Redhawk Invitational

Friday, September 13

Seattle, WA

10:00 AM

Gonzaga University

University of New Mexico

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Photo by: Mike Wootton

9/11/2019 3:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes

Bulldogs face New Mexico, Seattle and Oregon State over the weekend

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga volleyball team travels to Seattle Friday and Saturday for the Redhawk Invitational, hosted by Seattle. The Zags face New Mexico, Seattle and Oregon State in the third tournament of the season.

MATCH ONE
Gonzaga (5-1) vs. New Mexico (2-4)
Sept. 13 | 10 a.m. | Seattle, Wash. | Redhawk Center
Live Stats

MATCH TWO
Gonzaga (5-1) at Seattle (5-2)
Sept. 13 | 5 p.m. | Seattle, Wash. |Redhawk Center
Live Video | Live Stats

MATCH THREE
Gonzaga (5-1) vs. Oregon State (3-2)
Sept. 14 | 2 p.m. | Seattle, Wash. | Redhawk Center
Live Stats

SERIES REVIEW
vs. New Mexico
OVERALL: 1-3 | NEURAL: 0-3
Gonzaga is 1-3 overall against the Lobos with an 0-3 mark in neutral site matches. GU picked up its first win against New Mexico at the Comcast Lobo Invitational in 2007, a 3-2 victory in Albuquerque.

vs. Seattle
OVERALL: 3-2 | AWAY: 0-1
Gonzaga has the edge in the series against the Redhawks; the Bulldogs have won all three matches in Spokane and a neutral site match, yet Seattle claims a 1-0 lead in Seattle. Currently, GU is on a two-match win streak after having won in both 2013 and 2014.

vs. Oregon State
OVERALL: 2-5 | NEUTRAL: 1-3
The Bulldogs are 2-5 overall against the Beavers. GU's first win came back in 1987, but its most recent victory over OSU was in 2011 with a 3-2 victory in a neutral-site match in Laramie, Wyo. Four of the seven matches have gone to five sets, including the last two meetings.

SCOUTING THE LOBOS:
After a 15-15 2018 campaign, the UNM is off to a 2-4 start to begin the season with first-year head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar. The Lobos only return two starters from their 2018 team in outside hitters Lauren Twitty and Tai Bierria, and welcome seven newcomers, which include six freshmen. In her senior year, Twitty was named to the Mountain West Preseason Team after leading the team in 2018 with 407 kills, averaging 3.86 kills per set. After finishing 7th in the Mountain West last season, the Lobos were chosen to finish in the same spot this season. Last weekend at the NMSU Borders Tournament in Las Cruces, UNM went 1-2 on the weekend with 0-3 losses to Texas A&M Corpus Christi and NMSU while defeating Pacific 3-0.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN ON THE REDHAWKS:
In the seventh season under head coach James Finley, the Redhawks return eight players from last season including three upperclassmen. After leading the team with 254 kills in 2018, redshirt-junior Rachel Stark is back, along with junior libero Tijana Milojevic who anchored the defense with a team-best 493 digs. Last season, the Redhawks finished eighth in the WAC and again were chosen to finish eighth this year in front of Chicago State. SU is currently 5-2 to start the season, following a 2-1 weekend at the Holly Young Invitational which included wins over New Hampshire and Holy Cross.

SCOUTING OSU:
The Beavs enter the 2019 season with a lot of experience, returning six starters along with six seniors. Last season Oregon State finished the year with an 11-21 record and a 1-19 record in the Pac-12. This year's Pac-12 preseason poll slated them to finish 12th, in a loaded conference with six ranked teams. To start the 2019 campaign the Beavers are 3-2, following a 1-2 weekend at the Hoosier Invite with a 3-1 win over Yale.

TOP LEVEL TERMINATION
The Bulldogs have vastly improved their hitting accuracy this offseason. Through the first six matches, Gonzaga is hitting .264 as a squad with five players (with at least 35 attempts on the season) hitting over .270 including four players hitting over .330. Comparatively, through the first six matches of the 2018 season, the Zags were hitting at a .171 clip with just one player with at least 35 attempts hitting over .330. Three players have recorded double-figure kills in at least one match this season: Sarah Penner, Chapin Gray and Kennedy Croft.

HOME-OPENING HIGHS
The Zags took home the title for the Gonzaga Invitational, their first home tournament since 2017. Gonzaga finished 2-1 overall in a three-way tie with Ball State and Grand Canyon; the Zags won the tiebreaker in set win percentage to claim the title.
- Both Jenna Kuehn and Chapin Gray took home all-tournament honors. Kuehn was selected MVP after finishing the weekend with 88 assists for an 8.80 per set average, 10 kills hitting .450, 19 digs and two blocks. Kuehn helped the Zags hit .269 for the tournament and register 133 kills on the weekend to average 13.3 per set. Gray led the Bulldogs with 32 kills on the weekend hitting .338. She added 1.70 digs per set.
- The Bulldogs dropped just three sets over the course of the tournament in their lone loss of the season, a 3-1 loss to Grand Canyon. GU closed the tournament with two-straight sweeps, one over Ball State and another over Montana.