Malika Andrews | The Pilots fell to Gonzaga in three sets this morning in the Martin Centre in Spokane. Portland drops to 1-8 in WCC play while the Bulldogs advance to 4-5.
Portland’s starting lineup looked a little different in Spokane’s “mini kennel”. To start the first set, Djurdjina Milovic, Sarah Savoca, Lauren Naatz, Monica Gajda, Katie Sullivan, Hannah Troutman and Brittney Markwith took the court. Emily Liger did not start.
This is only the second time Liger hasn’t started this season. Assistant Coach Dan Matthews said that this is because Portland went with a different rotation.
Among the other changes, junior Makayla Lindburg served in a match for the time this season. Matthews clarified that Lindburg not serving thus far was not a precaution of Lindburg’s 2014 shoulder surgery. None of the middle blockers have been serving.
“It’s not like she isn’t serving in practice,” Matthews said. “She has been there the whole time and this was her chance but I thought she did really well.”
Sullivan led both teams with 16 kills on .560 hitting percentage on the match.
“Off a good pass she’s pretty good,” Gonzaga head coach Dave Gantt said. “Defending her is a combination of serving tough and recognizing what the hitter is doing soon enough.”
Despite Sullivan’s performance, neither team hit well in the first set. The Pilots swung .086 to Gonzaga’s .182. Liger came off the bench with Portland trailing 7-6. Markwith fended off set point to get the Pilots to 20 but Gonzaga went on to win the set 25-20.
Portland head coach Brent Crouch went with a tall lineup to start the second set. The only player on the court below six-foot was setter Milovic.
Troutman, who has been a go-to hitter for the Pilots this season, didn’t see playing time after the first set. She sat with two errors on six attack attempts and an overall hitting percentage of -.333.
“Not everyone has the match of their career every day,” Matthews said. “When you’re in a position where things aren’t going your way, we have to do something about it and fortunately we had Mak (Lindburg) on the bench to come in and contribute.”
There were 15 tied scores and eight lead changes in set two. With the set tied at 21, the Zags made their push. Despite Pilots leading in hitting percentage .250 to .209, the Bulldogs came out on top 25-23.
Set three was a battle. The Pilots came out with a vengeance and it came down to the wire. The Pilots and Bulldogs tied the score 13 times and the went point for point until the end when Gonzaga’s Savanna Blinn scored two consecutive points to finish off the set 26-24.
Markwith added 10 kills in the loss. Next, the Pilots return home to take on the San Francisco Dons at 7:00 pm in the Chiles Center.
Malika Andrews is the sports editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu.
