Box Score | Photo Gallery

SPOKANE, Wash.--The Gonzaga volleyball team kept two streaks alive Thursday night, extending both its win streak and five-set streak with a 3-2 win (22-25, 28-26, 19-25, 25-22, 15-10) over Pepperdine inside the Martin Centre.

"Wow. Defense, defense, defense, defense prevails," said Gonzaga head coach Diane Nelson about the win. "We talked about serving tough and allowing our defense to set up, and they executed the way we asked them to. I don't know what to say, these kids are not going away. They're sticking with it, and they're responding as they need to, and I'm proud of them."

The Zags (10-7, 5-0 West Coast Conference) twice rallied from one-set deficits before putting the visiting Waves (11-7, 3-2 WCC) away in the fifth. During that fifth set, Gonzaga trailed as late as 8-10, but they rattled off seven straight points - six on the serve of Sarah Penner - for the come-from-behind win. Penner earned the serve for GU with a kill to pull within one at 9-10, and a pair of Pepperdine errors gave the Zags a lead. Alyse Whitaker and Jenna Kuehn combined for a block to put the Zags up 12-10, and Whitaker and Chapin Gray tallied the final three points with kills to clinch the victory.

Gonzaga has now won six straight matches dating back to Sept. 16, and the last five - all of which have been in WCC play - have gone to five sets. It's the program's longest win streak since stringing together eight victories during the 2007 season.

Gonzaga saw its most balanced attack of the season Thursday night as five different Bulldogs tallied double-digit kills. Kuehn was one of those, landing 11 kills and posting another triple-double with 20 assists and 14 digs as well. It's the sophomore's second of the year and just the program's second of the rally-scoring era.

Whitaker and Payton Mack each set season highs with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, with Mack also extending her career high. Defensively, Tiyana Hallums led all players with 21 digs - another season high - while Penner added 14 to go along with 12 kills for her first collegiate double-double.

Having just set the program's longest win streak to open WCC play, the Bulldogs look to remain perfect on the conference season on Saturday, Oct. 7. They'll host Loyola Marymount at noon, once again inside the Martin Centre.