PROVO, Utah — On the second leg of its most challenging road trip of the season, Gonzaga volleyball fell in straight sets (7-25, 20-25, ) to No. 9 BYU Saturday afternoon at Smith Fieldhouse.

McKenna Marshall and Kennedy Croft both connected on seven kills apiece to lead the Bulldogs on offense, with Cara McKenzie getting five of her own to go with a service ace, one of two for GU. Croft added a team-high nine digs, and Keau Kamake'eaina put up 18 of the Zags' 22 assists in the losing effort.

GU connected on a match-high 12 kills in the second set to go with its best hitting and kill percentages of the game, starting the set off with a 3-0 run capped off by a kill from Juliette Russell. BYU responded with a 4-0 run of its own before GU matched them with another 4-0 surge powered by two kills from McKenzie, another from Marshall and a service ace from Viktoriya Ivanova. GU led 8-5 after McKenzie's third kill of the set, but the Cougar started building a lead after another run — this time 6-0 — gave them a three-point cushion they wouldn't give up again en route to 25-20 set win. 

BYU kept rolling in the third set, ripping off another momentum-swinging run after Kennedy Croft tied it up at 5-all to secure a match-clinching 25-14 win.

Up Next
Gonzaga returns home to play host to San Francisco (0-13, 0-5) in another WCC matchup Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Martin Centre before hosting Santa Clara (4-11, 0-5) at noon Saturday.