SPOKANE, Wash. - Facing its second consecutive ranked West Coast Conference foe, the Gonzaga University volleyball suffered a 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-17) defeat to No. 20 BYU Saturday at the Martin Centre.
The Bulldogs drop to 8-10 overall and 4-5 in the WCC. BYU improves to 16-3 and remains undefeated (9-0) in conference action.
"BYU is a big and athletic team," head coach Dave Gantt said. "To beat them, you need to run your system at a high level. If you do not, they are very unforgiving and it is hard to play catch up against a top team like them. They played very well today and it was a challenge on our end."
An early and a late run by the BYU offense was the story of the first set. The Cougars were able to take advantage of a handful of Bulldog attack errors to take a 6-2 edge. GU quickly battled back to tie the set at 13 on a Meredith Crenshaw and Imani Wimbush block. Six more ties would ensue before BYU's set clinching 8-2 run.
The Cougars took the first frame 25-20.
GU came out aggressive in the second by taking the first four points. However, BYU's size at the net proved to be problematic as BYU rode a 9-1 run, with five blocks, forcing a Gonzaga timeout.
The Zags troubles continued as the Cougars distanced themselves to the largest lead of the set, 16-8. Gonzaga would call another timeout and claimed four of the next six points. Senior Kristina Lavrisha contributed three kills and three digs but it was not enough as BYU took the 2-0 lead.
"We tried to do more than we need to," Gantt stated. "We got out of sorts and away from what we can do best. It definitely is a learning curve because to compete in the WCC you need to elevate your game. We are very capable; we just need to continue to work on some things."
Gonzaga's attack improved in the third set as GU hung tight with BYU to a tie at 11. BYU then pieced together an 8-2 run to distance themselves 19-13. The Zags would use both timeouts but the Cougars trickled off three of the last for points to clinch the match 25-17.
"I was disappointed with how we ran our system today," Gantt said. "As a result we were unable to slow them down and it piled on. They are a big challenge and they are one of the teams to beat in the league."
Savannah Blinn had a team-high eight kills with Lavrisha second best on the team with six. Lyndsay Palmer added 17 assists while Lauren Joseph had 10.
Libero Kathleen Wright produced two service aces. She currently has a 10 match streak with at least one service ace. Her total for the season is 19.
WCC play continues for the Zags as they hit the road to face Pepperdine University Thursday and Loyola Marymount University on Saturday.
"We are at the half way point of the conference schedule," Gantt explained. "Our first half experience has been promising. It is interesting that we have been much better on the road, but we know who the top teams are. We get five home matches in the second half and I like our chances to continue make history. That will drive us the rest of the way."
