Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--The Gonzaga University volleyball team saw a two-match win streak snapped Saturday as the Bulldogs fell to Santa Clara in four sets (18-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22) at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara.

Gonzaga rushed out to an early match lead with a first-set victory. The Bulldogs opened the frame by winning 11 of the first 15 points for a seven-point advantage. The Broncos then embarked on a run of their own, pulling within three at 10-13, 11-14, and 13-16, but the Bulldogs responded with five straight tallies for a 13-21 advantage. Imani Wimbush started the run with a kill, and the Zags got points from Sarah Bradley, Paige Folger, and Jenna Kuehn during the stretch. They then closed out for a seven-point set victory.

In the second, Santa Clara took an early lead and led through the middle part of the set. Gonzaga took five straight points to take the lead - their first of the frame - at 19-20 but the Broncos won six of the final seven for the set win and to tie the match at 1-1.

Coming out of the break, the Broncos again used a late run to take the third set 25-22. With the score tied at 15-all, the Zags stormed ahead for a 16-21 advantage thanks to four kills from Wimbush and one each from Katelyn Oppio and Emmy Allen, but an 8-0 run for the home team erased that advantage. Folger halted the run with a sideout on set point, but the Broncos took the third one play later on a Taylor Odom kill.

Santa Clara clinched the match in the fourth. The Broncos used another late run to stretch a 15-13 advantage out to 21-15. The Zags brought that deficit down to two at four different marks afterward, but Santa Clara closed out the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.

Bulldog Bites:

• Three Zags posted double-digit kills Saturday: Wimbush, Allen, and Bradley. Bradley set a career high with 10 kills, doubling her previous best as a senior this season, while Wimbush also posted a yearly-high with 17. Those 17 kills came on 31 attempts for a .452 attack percentage, her second highest mark this year. Allen added 13 kills, marking the fifth time this season that three different Bulldogs reached 10 kills, and the second time in West Coast Conference action.
• Also setting a season high, senior Morgan Douglass dug up 23 attacks. Since taking over as libero Oct. 13, she's posted at least 12 digs in all five matches.
• With her first block assist of the match (on the 4-1 point in the first), Paige Folger moved to No. 5 on the Zags' all-time block assists list. She entered the day tied with Erica Cordy at 324 career block assists. At San Francisco, she took over sixth on the school's all-time total blocks list. Another career milestone was set Saturday as Wimbush landed her 500th kill during the third set.

Zag Speak: Thoughts from Gonzaga head coach Diane Nelson

• "Santa Clara came out with an aggressive mindset. They served tough, passed well, and ran their offense better than us. We could not find out rhythm after set one."

Next Up:

The Zags (13-8, 6-5 WCC) return home for a pair of matches next weekend. They open the homestand with a 6:00 p.m. matchup against Loyola Marymount on Thursday, Nov. 3, and they welcome Pepperdine to the Martin Centre on Saturday, Nov. 5. Gonzaga beat both teams earlier in the season for the program's first SoCal road sweep.