SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Gonzaga volleyball team battled visiting San Diego but fell in three sets (25-22, 25-15, 25-22) Thursday evening at the Martin Centre.
 
Gonzaga (6-15, 3-7 WCC) had three players with six or more kills, led by both Sarah Penner and Perry Ramsey with seven each. Penner also added a match-high three blocks. Tiyana Hallums finished with a team-high 12 digs, and Faith Smith added a team-high 16 assists.
 
"When we were in a good system, things were good," head volleyball coach Diane Nelson said. "That's how volleyball is. It's so much momentum. We got a little momentum, and then the serve receive kind of took us out of it. They served tough tonight. That was one of the toughest serving teams we've seen in a while."
 
The Bulldogs kept the match close throughout as the evening featured 22 ties and nine lead changes. In the first set, Gonzaga started with a 2-0 lead, but San Diego (12-9, 9-2 WCC) quickly closed the gap to tie the set 4-4. This back-and-forth play continued and with the set tied 21-all, a USD kill coupled with a Zag hitting error gave the Toreros a 23-21 lead. The Bulldogs were unable to respond, and USD continued on for the 25-22 win.
 
"Honestly, we spent the whole week tending to the details of what USD does and how we need to respond in specific positions," Nelson said. "The players were pretty dialed in all week. That was apparent. It made probably a few more plays than otherwise."
 
In the second set, San Diego was efficient offensively, hitting .357 for 13 kills while limiting the Bulldogs to eight kills hitting at a .036 clip. Midway through, the Bulldogs trailed by just two points (12-10), but an 8-3 Torero run put the Zags in a seven-point hole, 20-13. In the final plays, the Zags were unable to gain any sort of momentum as USD terminated at will, notching three-straight kills to extend its lead to 10 (23-13). San Diego capitalized on two GU service errors in the final plays to capture the 25-15 second set win.
 
"When they feel confident about what they are going into, everything else flows a little bit better," Nelson said. "We realized that we had to run the offense almost as fast as [USD] did in order to stay competitive. When our serve receive passing broke down, that's when they started to separate."
 
In the final set, Gonzaga cleaned up its hitting and serving, finishing with 12 kills and two service aces, while limiting USD to 15 kills hitting .170. The set was close in the opening plays as neither team led by more than two points until a quick 6-0 Torero run put USD in front 19-13. Gonzaga clawed its way back, capitalizing on a big kill from Katelyn Oppio and back-to-back Toreros attacking errors, and trailed by three late in the set (19-16).
 
Yet USD held the upper hand with the late 24-20 lead. The Bulldogs thwarted three set- and match-point opportunities for San Diego, but the final Torero kill sealed the 25-22 set win and 3-0 sweep.

The Toreros were led by Addie Picha and Roxie Wiblin with 10 kills each while Kelli Barry added a match-high 18 digs.
 
Gonzaga returns to the floor Saturday, Oct. 27 as it hosts No. 1 BYU at noon at the Martin Centre.