SPOKANE, Wash. -- Gonzaga volleyball (7-14, 3-7 West Coast Conference) found its rhythm on the court in a five-set win (25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 13-25, 15-10) over WCC rival Loyola Marymount at the Martin Centre on Saturday, weathering a rally from the Lions (15-5, 6-4) with a clutch fifth set and its most prolific offensive performance of the season.

Kennedy Croft (16 kills), Cara McKenzie (14) and Juliette Russell (10) all notched double digits to lead GU on offense, with McKenzie's .500 hitting average as the most efficient performance of the day. Freshman setter Keau Kamake'eaina was responsible for 41 of the Zags' 45 assists, adding 12 digs to finish just behind Vitoriya Ivanova (16) for the team lead.

GU connected on a season-high eight service aces in the win, getting three from Ivanova, two apiece from Dani Batenhorst and Kamake'eaina and another from McKenzie. The Zags outblocked the Lions 16-13 thanks to five blocks from Russell, four from McKenzie and three each from Croft and Grace Ehler.

The Bulldogs dominated in the first two sets, outscoring LMU 50-37 while reaching .345 and .429 hitting averages, respectively. 

A 3-1 start in the first soon ballooned to a 10-5 lead thanks to kills from McKenzie and Russell in addition to five errors from the Lions, and a 5-0 run with two more kills from Croft and another from Russell gave the Zags the breathing room they needed to close out strong for a 25-17 win.

The momentum stayed with GU in the second, with a service ace from Batenhorst capping off a 3-0 start before LMU responded with a run of their own to tie it at 4-all. Down 11-10 after a kill from the Lions' Rose Booth, the Bulldogs regained control with a 6-0 run that included two more klls from Croft, another from McKenzie and Ivanova's second service ace of the day -- and didn't look back. Another late push brought the score within two at 21-19, but GU closed the door yet again with a 4-1 run that put them up 2-0 overall.

LMU had an answer in the following two sets, evening it up at two-all after putting up a combined 32 kills and game-highs of 66% and 76% on sideout in 25-20 and 25-13 wins. The Lions looked to keep rolling in the fifth too, going up 5-3 early before the Zags retook control with an 8-1 run that saw three kills from McKenzie and four LMU attack errors. A 4-1 run from the Lions brought them back within two, but GU closed the set with three unanswered scores for its most high-profile match win yet.

Up Next

The Zags hit the road next week for matchups at Pacific (8-13, 5-5) at 7 p.m. Thursday and at Saint Mary's (11-8, 5-5) at 1 p.m. Saturday. Check GoZags.com and follow @ZagVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date game time information, live coverage and more.