Complete match notes (PDF)
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The University of San Francisco women's volleyball rides a three-game winning streak into its Thursday contest at Pacific. The Dons earned a Bay Area sweep in War Memorial Gym after knocking off Saint Mary's, Pacific and Santa Clara in resounding fashion.
USF heads into the pair of Pacific Northwest games as the fourth-place team in the West Coast Conference, trailing No. 21 BYU, No. 9 San Diego and Saint Mary's in the overall standings. Portland is still looking for its elusive first win of the season as both teams close out October's matches on Halloween. The Dons will look to split the season series against Gonzaga after the Bulldogs came from behind to defeat the Dons 3-2 on Oct. 3, handing USF its last home loss.
Winning Ways
Head coach
Gilad Doron sits at 99 career wins at the helm of the University of San Francisco volleyball program. With his next victory, Doron will sit at the century mark on the Hilltop and the win will be his 49th in confrence play. He already stands as the winningest and longest tenured coach in program history.
Potent Quotables
"Portland is a good team, and they have been playing better than their record We will have to be ready to play
on Thursday night, and our team needs to be prepared to play the way we have the past few weeks in order to get another win. Gonzaga is a tough place to play, and they are a very solid team this year so we need to make sure we are prepared to play every point from the start knowing they will fight until the end.
"We need to look at what we have done the past few weeks and try to do it over and over each time we step on the court. This is easier said than done but our team is playing much better defensively and offensively, and our players understand their roles better. More importantly, they play hard for one another which is a great testament to our players' willingness to give the team their best every time they are on the court."
- head coach Gilad Doron on the weekend
Santa Clara Remix
USF jumped to a 2-0 halftime lead at War Memorial Gym before the Broncos rallied to take the third set. But the Dons, who seem to get stronger as matches progress, breezed to a wire-to-wire 25-17 win in the fourth to extend the winning streak to three, and four at home. The season sweep of Santa Clara is just the second in school history, a feat also accomplished in 2008.
USF senior
Rebecca Kopilovitch notched 20 digs in the match to move to third on the all-time digs list, passing Melanie Kaiser in the record books.
Malina Terrell pouned down 17 kills to leap over Alix Gombos and KeLicia Shorts into 15th on the career kills tally.
Anja Segota posted 13 kills and then-WCC Player of the Week
Valentina Zaloznik added nine kills and nine total blocks in the win.
Scouting the Dons
USF's Zaloznik is leading the way with 239 kills on a .363 attack percentage, 81 total blocks and 25 service aces. Her attack percentage ranks second in the WCC and 51st in the nation. Senior
Mackenzie Murtagh leads USF in assists on the year, tallying 452, or 5.55 per set, to pace the Dons. Kopilovitch stands as the USF dig leader in 2013, with 291 on the season.
Scouting Report
Portland senior Autumn Wedan is pacing the league with her 4.55 kills per set. That figure is good fo 12th in the nation
. Gonzaga enters the weekend 37th in the nation in blocks per set, with freshman Paige Folger (1.23/s) pacing the team. Savannah Blinn stands in second in the WCC in kills per set, pounding down 3.86 each frame.
WCC Player of the Week
Valentina Zaloznik's selection as WCC Player of the Week (Oct. 21) was the first Don to be recognized by the conference for a weekly honor in nearly four years. The last USF player awarded this weekly honor was Haley Carroll (Nov. 9, 2009).
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