SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga volleyball team fell in four sets (17-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-18) to visiting Pepperdine Saturday afternoon at the Martin Centre. The Bulldogs struggled to find openings offensively, suffering 37 attacking errors coupled with 17.0 Pepperdine blocks.
 
Gonzaga (4-9, 1-1 WCC) was led by Sarah Penner with a double-double of 15 kills and 11 digs while Kaylie Loewen added 12 kills hitting .226. Tiyana Hallums led the Bulldogs defensively, finishing with a match-high 21 digs.
 
The Bulldogs controlled the match in the first set, opening with 13 kills off 31 swings with five errors to hit .258. Meanwhile, Gonzaga was able to dictate Pepperdine's (8-4, 2-0 WCC) offense, forcing the Waves to hit an even .000 with nine errors and nine kills on 34 swings. Gonzaga raced out to a 4-1 advantage with a kill from Jenna Kuehn and three consecutive Pepperdine errors, but the Waves quickly closed the gap to tie the set five-all.
 
Midway through the first, the set was once more tied, this time at 13 apiece, but back-to-back GU kills gave the Bulldogs some breathing room. Subsequent consecutive hitting errors by the Waves put Gonzaga up 19-15 late in the set. The Bulldogs continued to capitalize on Pepperdine errors and cruised to the 25-17 first set win.
 
"I think we had the offensive control in the first set, and we were able to distribute," Gonzaga head volleyball coach Diane Nelson said. "When our passing started fading away, it became a lot harder to have a diverse offense. It's pretty predictable what is going to happen."
 
Pepperdine took over in the second set and gained a six-point advantage (12-6) following two straight Bulldogs attacking errors. The Waves capitalized at the net, hitting .303 for 13 kills while the Bulldogs struggled, hitting -0.29. Pepperdine maintained its six-point lead late (20-14) and ended on a 5-1 run to seal the 25-15 second set win.
 
The third and fourth sets saw a similar storyline to the second. Gonzaga combined to hit -.027 while the Waves added 12.0 blocks in the final two sets. Pepperdine came out on top in the third 25-19 followed by a 25-18 fourth set win to take the match 3-1.
 
"They passed great and they served tough," Nelson said. "That will win matches anywhere you go. We started passing a little bit weaker, and therefore our offense was a little weaker. I don't think we served as tough as we could have, which would have helped."
 
Pepperdine was led by Hannah Frohling with 13 kills and five blocks while Blossom Sato added a match-high 36 assists. Shannon Scully finished with a match-high 10 blocks.
 
Gonzaga returns to the court Sept. 27 at No. 1 BYU in Provo, Utah.