Box Score

LOS ANGELES-- The Gonzaga volleyball team scrapped its way to a successful weekend in Southern California, coming from behind to defeat Loyola Marymount in five sets (17-25, 25-19, 16-25, 25-14, 15-11) Saturday and cap off a two-win road trip.

After dropping the third set and falling behind two sets to one, the Bulldogs settled down and began the comeback. Morgan Douglass took over as libero before the frame, helping GU take the set lead at 4-3 and never look back. Gonzaga quickly widened that advantage to six points with a 6-1 run. The Lions pulled within four, but the Zags used a six-point swing on the serve of Faith Smith to essentially close the frame. During the fourth, the Zags hit .429, by far their most efficient frame of the match, while holding the Lions to a negative attack percentage.

In the deciding fifth set, the Bulldogs countered a 0-3 LMU run with a six-pointer for themselves, one that included three kills and two blocks. The Lions again whittled down that advantage to one at 11-10, but McKayla Ferris halted the run with a kill, Katelyn Oppio served up an ace, and Paige Folger and Payton Mack combined for a block to hand the Zags match point at 14-10. LMU fought off one match point with a kill, but Ferris again found the floor to clinch the win.

Loyola Marymount began the match with a 17-25 set one victory, but they used a late run to pull ahead. Before the stretch, there were eight tied scores and four lead changes in the set. Gonzaga countered with a 25-19 win in set two to even the match heading into the break, but LMU won the third 25-16 for its second lead of the day.

Bulldog Bites:

• With the win, the Zags completed their first-ever sweep of Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine on the road. They've beaten both West Coast Conference contenders during the same weekend just once before: at home Oct. 2 and 4, 2014. This is the Zags' fourth-ever road win over the Lions but first since 1992.
• The win is also the Zags' fourth in a row, with all four wins coming in conference play. This is the program's second four-match streak in WCC action of the last three seasons after also accomplishing the feat in 2014. Prior to that season, the Zags hadn't won four conference matches in a row since 1994.
• Gonzaga blocked 15.0 shots in the frame, one short of their season high set Aug. 27. Folger led the team with six blocks while Oppio was one off that pace with five. In all, seven Zags blocked at least one attack with six stuffing two or more.
• This is Gonzaga's first comeback of the season. With 12 first-set victories in 16 matches, they've only seen a handful of early deficits on the year. The Zags also advance to 4-1 in five-set matches, although this is their first five-setter in nine matches.

Zag Speak: Thoughts from Gonzaga head coach Diane Nelson

• "This group is resilient. They don't dwell in the past. We switched up our libero and Morgan settled our serve receive and defense in the fourth set. By set five, we told the girls to swing for the kill and good things will happen."

Next Up:

The Zags (11-5, 4-2 WCC) will return home for three matches over two weeks. The long home stint begins on Thursday, Oct. 13 against No. 5 San Diego. No. 13 BYU comes to town two days later, and Pacific Northwest foe Portland will enter the Martin Centre on Saturday, Oct. 22.