SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga volleyball team fell to visiting Portland in three sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-17) Saturday afternoon at the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre.
 
Five players had at least three kills for the Bulldogs, led by Chapin Gray with six. Faith Smith added a team-high 14 assists and seven digs while Peighton De Von added a match-high three aces.
 
"Portland is pretty versatile, they had a lot of range offensively and they set a lot faster offense than we're used to seeing," head volleyball coach Diane Nelson said. "Our blocking, and the timing of our blocking, just wasn't helping out the players behind the block. Not taking enough court away or being over at the right time…that was just a fast offense, so it made it a little more challenging for us."
 
Gonzaga (6-14, 3-6 WCC) was solid in the first set offensively, hitting .303 as a squad for 11 kills with just a single error, while De Von was on fire, hitting .500 for two kills with three service aces to go along with a block. Neither team led by more than two in the first set until the Pilots rattled off four-straight points to break an 18-all tie and take a late 22-18 lead. The Bulldogs briefly cut the lead to three following two Portland service errors, but the Pilots secured the win with a final kill from Shayla Hoeft to win 25-21.
 
The Bulldogs cooled off in the second, hitting .077 for eight kills, and opened the doors for Portland (16-5, 4-5 WCC). The Pilots took the early lead (11-6), but a big 6-3 run in favor of the Zags cut the lead to two, 14-12. Portland countered with its own 5-1 run to take a six-point lead, 19-13. The Bulldogs were unable to respond and dropped the second set 25-19.
 
In the final set, Portland ran away from the Bulldogs as it claimed an early 14-6 lead. The Bulldogs were able to cut the lead to six (21-15) late in the set, but Portland finished on a 4-2 run to claim the 25-17 set win and the 3-0 match sweep.
 
Portland was led by Katie Barker with a match-high 11 kills while Cali Thompson added a match-high 39 assists.
 
Gonzaga returns to the court Thursday, Oct. 25 against San Diego at 6 p.m. in the Martin Centre.