SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga volleyball team defeated Loyola Marymount in four sets (25-19, 20-25, 25-15, 27-25) Saturday afternoon at the Martin Centre to earn its first conference win.
 
Gonzaga (7-16, 1-10 WCC) was led by Kennedy Croft with 14 kills hitting .211 to go along with six digs, one block and a service ace. Sarah Penner and Katelyn Oppio also finished with double-figure kills with 12 and 10, respectively. Oppio hit a stifling .625 on the afternoon and added five digs and five blocks on the day. Julia Talarico led the Zags with a match-high 18 digs, while Jenna Kuehn added a team-high 36 assists.
 
As a squad, the Bulldogs finished with 59 kills hitting .244 with 51 assists, 57 digs and 8.0 team blocks. The Zags added 10 service aces on the day, which ranks tied for eighth all-time for aces in a single match.
 
The Zags opened the match with a strong first set, limiting Loyola Marymount (13-11, 7-5 WCC) to just .059 hitting for nine kills. Gonzaga capitalized, hitting .250 for 17 first-set kills behind five kills from Chapin Gray; the Zags added 2.0 team blocks to cruise to the 25-19 first-set win.
 
Following a short setback in the second set, which the Lions won 25-20, GU put together a commanding 25-15 third-set win to gain the 2-1 match advantage heading into the fourth set. The Zags never trailed in the first set and built a solid 23-17 lead late, but a big LMU run tied the match up 23-23. GU was able to break three ties late in the set to grab the 27-25 fourth set win and 3-1 match win.
 
Loyola Marymount was led by Savannah Slattery with 20 kills, eight digs and a block. Tess Reid added 42 assists while Ella Boehle finished with 17 digs.
 
Gonzaga continues West Coast Conference play on the road next week with matches at Pacific (Nov. 7, 7 p.m.) and at Saint Mary's (Nov. 9, 1 p.m.).