Box Score | Photo Gallery

SPOKANE, Wash.--For the second time in three days, the Gonzaga volleyball team fell to a highly-ranked squad as No. 11 BYU swept the Zags 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-19) Saturday at the Martin Centre.

The Cougars took the first set by 12 points, winning five consecutive early points to lead 10-3. Senior McKayla Ferris landed two straight kills to halt the run, but the Bulldogs were unable to chip away at anymore of the deficit. Only once more were they able to post back-to-back points - another kill from Ferris and a block by Emmy Allen and Paige Folger to again pull within five - and BYU closed the period with 10 of the final 13 scores.

In the second, Gonzaga kept pace with the Cougars through the first half of the set. They saw four tie scores during the frame and were within one point at the halfway mark after a block and a kill from Katelyn Oppio made it 13-12 BYU. A six-point run for the Cougars, however, widened the margin, and they took the frame by nine at 25-16.

Coming out of intermission, Gonzaga won four of the first five points in the third set. Allen landed three kills during the early stretch, and Jenna Kuehn served up an ace as well. BYU then countered with an 8-2 run, taking the lead at 9-6. The Zags answered back with two more points to pull within one, but BYU responded with another sustained stretch, taking an eight-point lead at 21-13. The Zags rallied to pull within four at 21-17 and 22-18, but the nationally-seeded squad closed out the match with three of the final four tallies.

Bulldog Bites:

• BYU is the third ranked team the Zags have played this year: Gonzaga played at then-No. 1 Nebraska Sept. 16 and hosted No. 5 San Diego on Oct. 13. Four other 2016 opponents have spent time in the AVCA Top 25 poll but were unranked when the Zags faced them: Utah, Creighton, Santa Clara, and Loyola Marymount.
• Allen led the Bulldogs with 10 kills Saturday afternoon. That is the 14th time this year she's reached the double-digit mark, and seventh time in eight opportunities during West Coast Conference action. She leads the team with 90 kills (3.21 kills per set) during conference play.

Next Up:

Gonzaga (11-7, 4-4 WCC) remains in Spokane for the next week as they host Portland on Saturday, Oct. 22, again in the Martin Centre. That match will mark the halfway point in both teams' conference seasons. The Bulldogs took both matches against Portland last season, winning each in three sets.