Wrapping Up a Great Day for Gonzaga Athletics

It was a busy day for Gonzaga athletics. The men's and women's soccer team were in action as well as the women's volleyball team. The Gonzaga women's soccer team was able to pull out a victory today against Montana and the other two teams were able to pull out similar results. Today was a clean sweep for the Gonzaga Bulldogs and each performance was equally impressive.

-- The men's soccer team was able to get off the schneid as they gained their first victory of the season. The guys were able to knock off the host UNLV Rebels 2-1 in the first round of the UNLV Nike Invitational. The win came in surprising fashion with redshirt freshman Zach Smith coming off the bench to score both goals for Gonzaga. The Zags, now 1-1-1 on the year, held a shutout until the 88th minute when UNLV finally beat goalkeeper Scott Barnum. Barnum frustrated the Rebels, now 3-2-0, making three big saves to give the Bulldogs their first victory.

The win means that Gonzaga will be playing for the championship of the UNLV Nike Invitational tomorrow at 3 P.M. They will take on UC Riverside who defeated Oral Roberts University 3-1 in the opening game. UC Riverside is 1-4 on the season. Good luck to the Zags, bring home the title!

--Finishing off the evening for Gonzaga was the women's volleyball team and they had the most dominant performance of the day. The Zags took on UTEP in their first match of the Gonzaga Volleyball Tournament and they took control very early on. The ladies, now 3-6 on the year, easily swept UTEP 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-20).

It was the first home game of the season for the women and they did not disappoint the nearly capacity crowd on hand. Some familiar faces led the Bulldogs this evening in their rout of the Miners. Elaina Reinus had 13 kills and five digs and continued on her oustanding play throughout the year. Freshman Denise Van de Mortel played like a senior once again as she had 32 assists to go along with her eight digs.

The freshman/senior combination of Van de Mortel and Reinus has been very impressive this season and they have led the Zags in each of their three wins. The Gonzaga Volleyball Tournament will come to a close tomorrow as the ladies will be playing two matches as they take on San Diego State at 1 P.M. and Weber State University at 7 P.M.

We were able to snap a few shots of the ladies volleyball team...