SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga volleyball carried over momentum from its Thursday win over Saint Mary's in the opening set against Pacific Saturday, but ultimately fell in four (25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 18-25) to the Tigers at the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre.

13 kills from McKenna Marshall paced the Bulldogs (6-9, 2-2 WCC) on offense, joined in double digits by Zoe Thiros, who put up 10 kills of her own with just four errors for a .316 average. Freshman middle Juliette Russell and junior outside Kennedy Croft both added nine apiece, with Russell going without a single error for a team-high .429.

Even without the services of their leading blocker, the Zags put up one of their best defensive performances of the season, especially at the net. Russell led the Bulldogs' 12-block performance with two solo blocks and four block assists, with Marshall adding three of her own and securing 10 digs for a double-double — her second of the season so far. Croft led GU in digs with 14, with Alisa Kim (11) also reaching double digits.

Croft, sophomore setter Keau Kamake'eaina and junior outside Dani Batenhorst all served up two aces each, and Kamake'eaina produced 37 of the Zags' 41 assists.

GU took an early lead in the first set after an attack error punctuated a 7-3 start to the match. That lead grew when a 7-0 run — capped off by Marshall's fourth kill — and GU kept pushing from there, weathering a late 3-0 Tigers run before an ace from Ivanova and a kill from Croft secured the first set, 25-21. 

Pacific took its first lead of the match early in the second, going up 5-4 on a kill and stretching the lead to 8-4 after, but GU tied it up at 13-all after Thiros' fifth kill and two consecutive Pacific attack errors. GU led 23-22 after yet another kill from Thiros, but the Tigers scored three straight to close the set 25-23 and tie it up at one apiece.

The Tigers' offense came into form in the final two, hitting game-high kills (15) in the third and game-high hitting average (.300) in the fourth en route to the closeout despite late resistance from the Bulldogs in both sets.

Up Next
The Zags go on the road for more WCC action next week, with dates with nationally-ranked No. 25 San Diego and No. 10 BYU on Thursday and Saturday in San Diego, Calif., and Provo, Utah, respectively.