SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga volleyball (6-12, 2-5 WCC) found its balance on offense in its return to the Martin Centre Thursday night against San Francisco, romping to a straight-sets win (25-13, 25-18, 25-17) that saw the Zags' best hitting average of the season and seven different players recording multiple kills.
Junior outside McKenna Marshall was just one kill short of a double-double, leading the Bulldogs with nine kills and 13 digs ahead of grad middle Cara McKenzie (eight kills) and freshman Juliette Russell (six). GU hit .350 for the match, only generating six attack errors in total.
GU also posted its most productive defensive game of the season at the net, with McKenzie supplying seven of the team's season-high 10 total blocks, followed by Russell and Grace Ehler with three apiece. Viktoriya Ivanova tied with Marshall to lead the Zags in digs with 13.
In all three sets, GU built a lead early on and maintained it through set point.
Russell was flawless in the first set, picking up four kills on four attempts to power the Zags' best hitting average of the game (.429) along with two kills each from Kennedy Croft, McKenzie and Marshall. It took a few rallies before the Zags found their footing, but a 6-0 run spurred by four Dons attack errors gave them a five-point cushion they'd only build on for the rest of the set. GU ripped off another 8-2 run that saw a service ace from Croft and kills from Russell, Ehler and Marshall to expand the lead to double digits, and a 3-0 run to finish the set gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 set advantage with plenty to build on in set two.
GU experienced more resistance from USF in the second despite four more kills from Marshall and three from McKenzie. After seizing control with a 10-5 start to the set that included three GU service aces, the Dons managed to keep the lead within five until another assertive closing run — this time a 6-1 surge — put the Zags up 2-0.
The Zags started off a decisive third set on a 9-2 tear en route to a .407 average and a game-high 13 kills to build yet another lead that was too much for the Dons to overcome. USF chipped the lead down to 12-9 after a service ace, but a late 5-0 run that included four more Dons attack errors and a kill from Zoe Thiros suddenly ballooned the lead to 24-16 before McKenzie sealed the game with a kill.
Up Next
The Zags' hometand continues with a matchup with Santa Clara (5-11, 1-5) on Saturday at noon. Check GoZags.com and follow @ZagVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date game time and ticketing information, coverage and more.
