SEATTLE – The Gonzaga volleyball team fell in four sets of Pac-12 foe Oregon State (25-23, 20-25, 20-25, 23-25) Saturday afternoon at the Redhawk Center in Seattle.
 
"We played so hard," head volleyball coach Diane Nelson said. "Our hearts were in it from start to finish. We were able to get some new people in new spots, and it was fun to watch them perform. [Oregon State] was physical, and we needed to keep our game a bit cleaner. All in all, we learned."
 
Gonzaga (6-3) was led by freshman Zoe Thiros with 4 kills while junior Chapin Gray added 13 kills off 28 swings with just four errors to hit .321. Senior Jenna Kuehn added a match-high 46 assists and 15 digs.
 
Thiros got things started for the Zags, connecting on a kill to open the match with a 1-0 lead. Oregon State responded, and midway through the first set, the Beavers claimed a 15-11 lead. Gonzaga put together an 11-7 run to tie the set 22-all, and the Bulldogs finished on a 3-1 run to claim the 25-23 first set win.
 
In the second set, the Zags set the tone early capitalizing on two-straight OSU errors to take a 2-0 lead. Yet seven ties and one lead change later, Oregon State took the lead and never looked back, cruising to the 25-20 second set victory. The third set was nearly identical to the second, as the Beavers claimed a 25-20 win and a 2-1 match lead.
 
In the fourth and final set, OSU raced out to a 7-2 lead behind several GU errors, but midway through the set a kill from Katelyn Oppio tied the set 18-all. There were two more ties in the set, but a kill from OSU broke a 21-all tie and the Beavers never relinquished their lead, moving on to the 25-23 fourth set win and 3-1 match victory.
 
Oregon State was led by Kory Chesire with 17 kills Halie Bennett added 10. Maddie Sheehan finished with 36 assists while Shekinah Clarke added 22 digs.
 
Gonzaga is back in action Friday, Sept. 20 against Cal Baptist as part of the Nevada Tournament, hosted by Nevada in Reno, Nevada.