Volleyball: Zaloznik’s 18 Kills Leads Dons To First Season Win Over Air Force in Three Sets

Junior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik going up for a kill against Long Beach State. Zaloznik was key to the Dons offense througout the Bay Area Challenge Tournament. (Photo: Courtesy of Dons Athletics)

This past weekend, the USF Women’s Volleyball team hosted three teams at home as part of the Bay Area Challenge Tournament. The Dons welcomed Long Beach State, Air Force Academy and University of Miami to War Memorial Gym for their second weekend of action this season. The Dons finished the tournament with a 1-2 record, defeating Air Force but falling to Long Beach and Miami.

USF’s first game of the weekend proved to be a nail-biter. Facing Long Beach State, the Dons fell behind early, dropping the first two sets of the match 16-25 and 27-29. Put into a must-win situation, USF came back to dominate the Long Beach 49ers in the third set and ultimately took it in convincing fashion, 25-9. The show put on by the Dons in this set brought the large crowd back into the game and gave the players energy that they could feed off.

“It’s always good to come back after the first tournament was away and being home with a lot of people here, which we didn’t expect that much,” junior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik told USFdons.com.

The Dons then spent most of the fourth set trailing the 49ers until the score was eventually tied at 24 each. USF then took the lead, and with freshman outside hitter Katarina Pilepic’s clutch play, took the set 26-24. The fifth set started out evenly matched, but Long Beach eventually pulled away and won 15-10, sealing their 3-2 victory.

The Dons win in their second game was their first victory of the season. They defeated the Air Force Falcons in three straight sets. For the first half of the first set, it seemed that the two teams were on equal playing fields. The Falcons even held a 15-10 lead at one point, but the Dons went on a 10-1 run and managed to steal the win 25-22.

Following the first set victory, USF started both the second and third sets with the same energy and jumped ahead early. However, the Falcons proved to be resilient and would not go down without a fight. Still, led by Zaloznik’s 20.5 points (18 kills, three assisted blocks and one ace) and senior outside hitter Malina Terrell’s 12 kills, the Dons managed to take the sets 26-24 and 25-18, sweeping Air Force with wins in all three sets.

The final game saw USF playing well but falling 22-25, 17-25, 22-25 to Miami in three sets. With Terrell’s team-leading performance of 14 kills and senior libero Rebecca Kopilovitch’s 19 digs, the Dons fought extremely hard but fell a little short at the end.

“The competition that we had this weekend was excellent,” associate coach Ken Ko told USFdons.com after the match. “So tonight we played great, but Miami played greater. It’s just a function of competition.”

The Dons finished the Bay Area Challenge with a 1-5 overall record for the season. They head to San Diego to play four games in the Aztec Invitational this upcoming weekend, and begin West Coast Conference play against Loyola Marymount on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Dons Volleyball Snaps Losing Streak Heading into Final Game Against Powerhouse Pepperdine

San Francisco volleyball broke a six-game losing streak this week with home wins over Pacific Northwest teams the University of Portland and Gonzaga University of Spokane, WA. The Dons (15-12, 7-7 WCC) defeated the the Pilots 3-1 last Thursday, Nov. 10 and proceeded to sweep the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday, Nov. 12.

The 26-24, 26-28, 25-23, 25-19 decision over Portland (8-19, 2-12 WCC) was USF’s first win in almost a month. “Every game is going to be a battle for us,” head coach Gilad Doron said, “but we find a way to finish strong. That was a characteristic of earlier in the year, and I’m happy that we were able to do it today and get back into it.”

The San Francisco offense came through with a vengeance Thursday, with four Dons recording double-digit kills. The team hit .276, while the team leader in kills, junior outside hitter Alycia Cox, hit .341 and fellow outside hitter junior Jocelyn Levig recorded .400 attacking. Cox put down 17 kills, Levig finished with 16, freshman middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik added 12 more and sophomore middle blocker Malina Terrell chipped in 10 kills. Levig also racked up three solo blocks, three aces and 10 digs.

“At key moments, different players made big plays,” Doron said. “When we pull through and make big plays and play heads up, we give ourselves more chances and I was happy to see that today.”

The game was tense and close in score throughout with 41 recorded tie scores and 14 lead changes. Freshman libero Rebecca Kopilovitch was the key to San Francisco’s defense, with team-high 24 digs.

“Before we would get frustrated, today we stayed together. I think that’s the key thing, we stay together,” Doron said.

The Dons stayed together well for their next match, a 25-18, 25-23, 26-24 sweep over Gonzaga (7-9, 1-14 WCC). It was the last regular season game the Dons will play in War Memorial Gym this year.

Key hitting by San Francisco made the difference in the game, with USF swinging for .289 to the Bulldogs .214. Both teams racked up 54 digs and two aces, while the Zags snagged a 6-5 blocking advantage.

Sophomore middle blocker Malina Terrell and Zaloznik led the team offensively, with 12 and 11 kills respectively, a combined three blocks and an ace by Terrell. Kopilovitch once again held the team lead in digs with 19.

Early in the match the Bulldogs seemed to have an edge in energy anmomentum, but that ended with the Dons late set run for the win in the first set. Timely hitting by Cox gave the Dons the advantage in set two, while Terrell came through strong in set three, ending the game with a vicious kill. Cox totaled nine kills, while junior middle blocker Hadley Simmons and Levig each chipped in five. The win completed a series sweep against Gonzaga.

The Dons finish up West Coast Conference regular season play against No. 14 Pepperdine on Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Wavesʼ Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu at 7:00pm.

Dons Volleyball Continues to Slide Battling BYU and USD

The Dons losing streak continued last week with a tough 3-1 loss to the
Brigham Young Cougars on Thursday and a 3-1 setback against the University
of San Diego Toreros in San Diego.

San Francisco rallied back after losing the first two sets against BYU, but
were unable to pull through for a fifth set in their annual “Dig Pink” match. The
Dons were defeated 25-29, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23. The match raised money for
breast cancer awareness.

The Dons played the first two sets with little energy, but came back strong in the
third and fourth sets, rallying the pink-clad crowd.

“We really responded well after the second game we didnʼt play well, I
thought we made some changes, had some great energy, started to play some
better defense,” head coach Gilad Doron said.

Sophomore middle blocker Malina Terrell and freshman opposite hitter Anja
Segota shared the team lead in kills with 11 each, followed by freshman middle
blocker Valentina Zaloznik with 10 kills. The Dons struggled to hit from the
outside and hit for a .139 clip to the Cougars .215. USF had errors in every
aspect of the game, including 30 attack errors and 12 missed serves, five of
which came in the fourth set. The Cougars recorded 16 attack errors and eight
service errors, yet easily made up for these with a 13.0 – 4.0 blocking advantage.

“It came up to one or two points,” Doron said, “I thought we had it in game
four.” Sophomore setter Joan Coloiaro recorded a double-double for the Dons
with 38 assists and 15 digs. Freshman libero Rebecca Kopilovitch led the team
in digs with 26.

“Our girls battled,” Doron said. “Weʼre definitely going through a little
rough patch, but thatʼs the only way were going to get back up. We finished
stronger today and Iʼm happy about that, hopefully we can get our confidence
back up and win some matches.”

The Dons confidence did not return for their next match, a 25-11, 22-25, 25-19,
25-13 loss to the No. 17 USD Toreros. It was the fifth straight West Coast
Conference loss for San Francisco. The Dons (13-11, 5-6 WCC) swept the
Toreros (23-3, 8-3 WCC) on opening night, but didnʼt have the spark or the
momentum of that first conference meeting this time around.

The Dons hit at just .115 and put down 8 blocks, while San Diego hit at an
impressive .317 clip and totaled 11 blocks. San Francisco recorded 24 errors in
the match, 11 of them as missed serves and 7 on receiving errors.

Segota once again led the team in kills with 10, and added 10 digs to
reach a double-double. Zaloznik chipped in seven kills and five blocks (one solo),
and junior outside hitter Alycia Cox added six more kills.

San Francisco plays its next match in Provo, UT, once again facing off against
the BYU Cougars. They play Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7:00 PM.

Dons Denied WCC Dominance

The San Francisco Don’s near dominance of the West Coast Conference has diminished, with their 5-1 record reduced to 5-4 after a week and a half of play without a win. The addition of a home 3-1 loss to St. Mary’s last Thursday and a 3-1 loss at Santa Clara on Saturday puts the Dons on a three game losing streak after dropping a match against Pepperdine two weeks ago.

In what was one of the least engaging home matches of the season so far, the St. Mary’s Gaels of Moraga, CA defeated San Francisco 25-22, 18-25, 25-19, 25-20. Compared to their usual intensity in a close set, USF dropped the first set without much of a fight.

“The one thing that I missed from our team is the focus and the determination
that I saw before,” head coach Gilad Doron said, “We’ll have to figure it out, because every match now has a different magnitude.”

The Dons momentarily came out of their funk for the second set, which they won forcefully 18-25. San Francisco placed 14 kills in set two, compared to St. Mary’s 12.

Freshman outside hitter Vendula Strakova led the Dons offense, totaling 18 kills and three blocks (one solo). Freshman middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik followed with nine kills, five blocks (three solo) and an ace. The Dons hit almost as well as the Gaels, with a .282 hitting percentage to St. Mary’s .295.

“St. Mary’s played really well, got to give them credit. It was a good battle,” Doron admitted after the game.

The Dons lacked their typically strong competitive drive throughout the last half of
the match, allowing St. Maryʼs to take sets four and five without too much opposition.

“For us to beat them last time we made a special effort, this time they made a special effort,” Doron said.

The Dons didn’t have that special effort two days later in Santa Clara either. The
Broncos took the win 26-24, 20-25, 25-29, 25-26 against the downtrodden Dons on Saturday at Santa Clara’s Leavey Center.

San Francisco’s offense struggled severely against their Bay Area rivals, with just
one player with over 10 attempts hitting better than .120. The exception was sophomore middle blocker Malina Terrell, who hit .609 with 16 kills and two blocks (one solo). The Dons hit at .151, compared to Santa Clara’s .264, and fell behind in blocks 12-8.

Junior outside hitter Alycia Cox and freshman libero Rebecca Kopilovitch led the team in digs, each with 14, while junior outside hitter Jocelyn Levig added seven digs to her eight kills.

San Francisco struggled to keep their serves under control – while serving five more aces than their opponent, the Dons recorded nine service errors. The Broncos consistently took advantage of USF’s mistakes.

“We’ve got to find a little more of who we are in the next round,” Doron said, “I think right now as things are kind of shaping up, we are a team in the upper half…can we stay there? Can we move up, can we make a run?”

The Don’s next opportunity for a conference win will be Thursday, October 27th against new WCC opponents Brigham Young. For the Dons annual “Dig Pink” match (for Breast Cancer Awareness Month), they will take on the Cougars at 6:00pm in War Memorial Gym.

USF Volleyball Destroys LMU but Loses to Ranked Pepperdine

San Francisco Dons volleyball dominated Loyola Marymount University with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 sweep last Thursday night, only to lose their perfect home record to the No. 19 Pepperdine Waves on Saturday.

The Dons defeated LMU (10-9, 3-3 WCC) with ease and confidence, shutting down the Lions offense and responding to their opponent’s scrappy defense with some spectacular defense of their own.

“The team played confidently, even though I think offensively we weren’t very good today, we backed it up with defense, with blocking, with timely serving and great passing,” head coach Gilad Doron said, “you can beat teams in many ways.”

Sophomore middle blocker Malina Terrell set the tone for the match with a solo block for the first point of set one, instantly firing up the home crowd at War Memorial Gym. Terrell went on to lead the team in kills with nine on 13 attempts. The 5’10” native of Richmond, CA hit for a .692 attack percentage, had no errors and chipped in two blocks.

“I thought we did a really, really good job from the very first point,” Doron said. “The energy in the gym helps feed our energy,” junior outside hitter Alycia Cox said of the Dons fans.

Cox recorded an ace, four kills and 10 digs for the Dons, second in digs to freshman libero Rebecca Kopilovitch’s match-high 15. Setter Joan Caloiaro added 10 digs, four kills, two blocks and 29 assists. The 5’11” sophomore’s vicious serving produced four of the team’s six aces.

“As a team, we played as organized as we have in a long time,” Doron said. “I have to give our team a lot of credit, it was fun to watch them, even in the longest rallies that happened in the game, we still enjoyed that part.”

The Dons organized, confident play of Thursday disappeared for the first half of Saturday’s match against West Coast Conference leaders the Pepperdine Waves (13-5, 7-0 WCC). The Dons lost in four sets, 16-25, 18-25, 25-19, 22-25.

“I don’t know if our team got a slow start, or if it was just because Pepperdine played really well,” Doron said.

The Waves of Malibu, CA were very much in charge throughout the first two sets, setting the pace of the game and playing sharp, controlled volleyball. San Francisco struggled to gain composure and relied on frequent substitutions to try to liven things up on their half of the court. The Dons were finally able to put it all together in set three, taking the set 25-19 on a block and a kill by junior middle blocker Hadley Simmons.

“I was really pleased by how we responded in game three, I was pleased with some of the players coming in a stepping up,” Doron said.

Freshman middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik led the team in kills with 14, followed by freshman opposite hitter Vendula Strakova’s 11 kills. Strakova added seven digs.

Sharp volleyball was played by both teams throughout set four, a back-and-forth set that never saw a point spread bigger than two until the final sequence. The Dons reached a 22-20 lead, but were unable to combat Pepperdine’s five point run for the win.

“Pepperdine came and played really well early…they played better than us today, got to give them credit,” Doron said.

San Francisco plays its next match against the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7pm in War Memorial Gym.