#WeAreSF
The San Francisco volleyball team is coming off a tough two-game road swing at No. 10 BYU and then-No. 23 San Diego. The Dons pushed both teams to four sets, and nearly forced a fifth against the Toreros, before heading home still winless on the road. Despite the Dons' struggles away from the Hilltop, USF is looking to keep its clean sheet at War Memorial Gym alive, where the Dons sit at 5-0, and have won their last seven at home, dating back to 2013.
What 2 Watch 4
San Francisco's Valentina Zaloznik continues to be a dominant force for the Dons in her senior season, compiling 183 kills on .362 hitting and a team-high 72 blocks. In the Dons' win over Saint Mary's, Zaloznik tallied her 1,000th career kill for the Green and Gold, just the 10th woman in school history to reach the milestone mark.
Offensively, Katarina Pilepic  is leads the squad in kills with 199 to go with 37 blocks. Freshman Kim Gutierrez is leading the defensive charge, amassing 245 digs, and three other Dons have compiled at least 100 digs on the year. Kiara McKibben took over primary setting duties in 2014 and has assisted on 492 scoring plays for the Dons, an average of 8.48 assists per set.
Know the Foe
Gonzaga enters the weekend touting an 11-4 record, and a 2-2 mark in WCC play. Current WCC Player of the Week Savannah Blinn is a force for the Bulldogs, compiling a team- and conference-high 276 kills on .344 hitting. She finished with 46 total kills over the weekend as her team knocked off Pepperdine and then-No. 22 Loyola Mayrmount. Helping her on the offensive charge are McKayla Ferris (171 kills) and Jordan Gasser (175 kills). Primary distributor Lauren Joseph averages 10.46 assists per set.
Portland, USF's Saturday foe, stands at
 5-10 on the year and is still looking for its first league victory. The Pilots are paced by Emily Liger's 242 kills. Portland is looking to break a stream of six-straight losses as the team heads to the Bay Area.
USF Versus
All-time vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs: 27-29 (15-13 at WMG)Â
Current streak: L2  • Last meeting: 11/02/13 (A) • L, 2-3
25-17, 19-25, 19-25, 25-23, 10-15
All-time vs. Portland Pilots: 36-23 (21-10 at WMG)
Current streak: W5  • Last meeting: 10/31/13 (A) • W, 3-1
33-31, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22
 | Last Time Out
USF nearly stretched its match at No. 23 San Diego to five sets before falling 3-1.
The Dons were paced by double-doubles by USF's top two scorers on the season. Valentina Zaloznik notched a match-high 16 kills on .517 hitting to go with a new career-high 11 blocks, including three solo stuffs. Katarina Pilepic added 14 kills, 10 digs and five blocks in the match. Kiara McKibben nearly added a third double-double to the USF stat sheet, finishing with 31 assists and nine digs.Â
A Look Ahead
After a weekend on the Hilltop, the Dons hit the road for their longest road trip of the season for four straight road contests. USF will be seeking its first victory away from San Francisco, starting with Loyola Marymount.
On the Air
Livestats are available for all matches at usfstats.com. Streaming for Dons volleyball is available at theW.tv or on usfdons.com/LIVE. Pat Olson, long-time voice of USF men's basketball, will have the call courtside for all USF home matches all season long.
Records Watch - Valentina ZaloznikÂ
Senior Valentina Zaloznik is racing up the record books in myriad categories:
 T-5. Total Blocks - 372
 7.   Solo Blocks - 72
 9.   Kills - 1026
 9.   Aces - 98
After compiling 13 kills on 14 attempts with no errors, or .929, in USF's sweep of Fordham on Aug. 30, she now owns the single-match record for hitting percentage.Â
Get Connected
Fans can keep up on the latest in USF Athletics in a variety of ways. Follow USF Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ DonsAthletics Follow USF volleyball on Facebook at www.facebook.com/University.of.SanFrancisco.Volleyball
Check out video of the Dons in action at www.youtube.com/usfdonsathletics |
