SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga volleyball team fell to San Diego in three sets (25-17, 25-18, 25-9) Saturday afternoon at the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre.
 
Gonzaga (6-8, 0-2 WCC) finished with 27 kills hitting .172, 23 assists, 30 digs and 3.0 blocks. Junior Chapin Gray led the attack with a team-high eight kills off 22 swings with no errors to hit .364. Redshirt sophomore Abby Knapp tied her season-high with seven kills hitting .368.
 
"We have to play the long game," head volleyball coach Diane Nelson said. "We totally have the capability, but we have to be able to stay in it mentally all the way through. We can hang with any of these teams physically."
 
In the first set, despite an early 6-0 lead for San Diego (9-4, 2-0 WCC), the Bulldogs fought to tie the set 12-all. Yet a Torero kill from Grace Frohling, followed by a hitting error on the Zags swung the momentum in favor of USD. Gonzaga would twice cut the lead to one, but the Toreros continued on for the 25-17 set win.
 
Freshman Zoe Thiros kicked things off for the Zags in the second set with the early kill, and a kill from Knapp a few rallies later still had the Bulldogs in front by one, 3-2. But back-to-back kills from USD's Frohling put the Toreros in front for good. GU was unable to counter, and USD took off behind .594 hitting in the second set to claim the 25-18 win.
 
The third set was all San Diego as the Toreros cruised to the 25-9 set win for the 3-0 match sweep.
 
"I know we can come back," Knapp said. "All we can do is build from here, and I'm ready to contribute."
 
San Diego was led by both Megan Jacobsen and Thana Fayad with 12 kills each; Katie Lukes added 10 kills while Fayad finished with 11 digs for the squad's lone double-double.
 
Gonzaga is back in action Thursday, Oct. 3 as it faces Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles at 7 p.m.