Stockton, Calif. - Behind a triple-double out of their senior captain Kimmy Whitson, the Tigers continued their late season rally with a 3-2 win over Gonzaga on Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Pacific improved to 17-11 overall and 8-9 in the WCC with their third-straight win while the Zags fell to 15-15 on the year and 6-11 in conference play.

Set scores for the match were: 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 18-25, 15-12.

In arguably her greatest performance in her four years wearing the Orange and Black, Whitson produced one of the best all-around matches in nearly 20 years for the Tigers as the senior setter came up with a triple-double against the Bulldogs to lead Pacific to victory. In the five-set battle with the Zags, Whitson came up with 48 assists, 11 kills, and 11 digs to record the Tigers' first triple-double since Pacific Hall-of-Famer Addie Hauschild (1994-97) came up with 12 kills, 15 digs, and 13 blocks against Nebraska on Sept. 6, 1997. Even more impressively, Whitson just missed the Tigers' first-ever quadruple-double as the senior tallied a career-high eight blocks on the day.

In addition to Whitson's triple-double, Pacific posted two other double-doubles in the match as junior Lexi Elman tallied a team-best 18 kills to go with 10 digs while sophomore Maycie LaBass recorded 14 kills to go with 11 digs.

The Tigers would need every bit of the performance of Whitson and company as the Zags forced the match into a fifth and decisive set by rallying for both sets three and four out of the extended break. Pushed into the fifth and facing a charging Bulldog side that was holding all of the momentum, the Tigers were able to dig in and turn the tides of the match to come away with the overall victory. Tied at 8-8, the Tigers grabbed the lead for good with back-to-back kills from Elman as the junior found her way after being shutout in the fourth. Up two, Pacific held off the late advances of the Zags by siding out with kills from sophomore's Janie Feldsher and LaBass before a final kill from junior Alicja Wilk put the match away. Wilk just missed out on joining the double-double party as the third-year middle ended the day with 12 kills to go with eight blocks.

Prior to the showdown in the fifth, the Tigers held a 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard after taking the opening two sets of action. In the first, the Tigers took control of the net behind a stifling block that netted Pacific five blocks in the first 15 points of play. Wilk found herself in the middle of the action with four of the five blocks including coming up with a pair of solo stuffs. The five-point cushion created by their defense was all Pacific needed to take the opening set as the defense transitioned into offense with Elman tagging the Zags for seven kills on 11 swings with Pacific hitting .382 in the set.

With the tables turned in the second set and the Bulldogs playing nearly flawlessly on offense, the Tigers needed a late rally to overwhelm Gonzaga and steal away the set. Down four at 15-11, Pacific won nine of the next 13 points to take its first lead of the set while using a 4-0 run that capped the comeback and gave Pacific the breathing room needed to win the set. Back-to-back points from Wilk started the final run for the Tigers as the junior tallied a kill before rotating back to record the Tigers' lone service ace of the set.

After the break, the match completely flipped on the Tigers as the Zags took advantage of just a handful of Pacific mistakes to push their way back into the match. A brief lapse by the Tigers midway through the set gave the Zags the lead at 18-17 as Gonzaga never again trailed before finishing off the win with kills from Jordan Gasser and Paige Folger. Despite holding the statistical edge on paper, the Tigers could not put the Bulldogs away in the third thanks to a tough Gonzaga serve that forced Pacific out of system and out of rhythm.

Back in the match, the Zags put the Tigers on their heels in set four as the big senior outside Savannah Blinn founded a second gear offensively, scoring seven kills on just 10 swings to force the fifth set. In addition, the Bulldogs doubled up their blocking efforts from the previous three sets as the Zags recorded six total blocks in the fourth stanza with four coming from Folger. The combined efforts of Blinn and the block let Gonzaga finish the frame on a 17-4 run, 14-8 lead by the Tigers into a dominating 25-18 win.

In total, the Tigers outhit the Zags .268-to-.182 led by Whitson's .588 showing as the senior went posted an attacking line of 11-1-17 with her lone mistake coming midway through the fourth set when she was blocked trying to sneak a dump past the Bulldogs' front line. Additionally, the Tigers came up with 16.0 blocks to the Bulldogs' 12.0 while also tallying 66 digs to the Zags' 62. Sophomore Katrin Gotterba led all players with 19 digs in the win.

The Zags posted a pair of double-doubles in the loss led by Emmy Allen's 16 kill, 16 dig, performance. Setter Lauren Joseph finished with 25 assists and 10 digs while splitting duties in the Zags' 6-2 setup. Blinn led all attackers with 21 kills on 50 attacks while McKayla Ferris added 10 kills andGasser chipped in 11. 

Pacific plays its final home match on Tuesday, Nov. 24 in the penultimate match of the 2015 regular season. The Tigers will host Santa Clara at the Spanos Center at 7:00 pm. Prior to the match, the Tigers will honor their three departing seniors as Whitson, Holland Crenshaw, and Mia Feiner all play their final contests in front of Pacific's home crowd.