SPOKANE, Wash. — Despite a back-and-forth first set and a resurgent performance in the third, Gonzaga volleyball (7-18, 3-11) fell to No. 20 San Diego (18-4, 12-1) in four sets (20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25) on Alumni Day at the Martin Centre Saturday.
Kennedy Croft (17 kills), Zoe Thiros (11) and Cara McKenzie (11) all cracked double-digit kills to lead the Bulldogs on offense, with Thiros notching a double-double with ten digs and Croft adding seven of her own to go with two assists.
Keau Kamake'eaina got a double-double as well, pouring in 38 of the Zags' 45 assists while adding 12 digs and four kills to finish behind Viktoriya Ivanova (16 dig) for the team lead. The Zags also put up nine total blocks, with McKenna Marshall and Juliette Russell posting a team-high three each.
USD hit its highest average of the game () in the first and connected on two service aces, but couldn't put GU away until a late 4-0 run made it a 23-18 lead, its widest margin of the game so far. Two more kills from Croft and Kamake'eaina got the Zags to 20, but USD's Katie Luke connected on two of her own to close out the set with a 25-20 score.
The Toreros kept that momentum in a chaotic second, getting off to a 12-1 start before GU could begin to rally. The Zags chipped the lead down to single digits, led by a pair of kills each from McKenzie, Thiros and Marshall, but couldn't close the gap before set point.
The Zags responded with a third in which they hit for a .360 average and put up 14 kills, turning a 7-all tie into a four-point cushion with a run that saw kills from Russell and Thiros and holding onto the lead through the rest of the set.
GU's resilience continued to be a factor in the fourth — USD couldn't find the space it needed to close out the match comfortably with the Bulldogs hitting a game-high .361 average and connecting on a game-high 15 kills. The score tied 10 times and the lead changed three times before the Toreros scored the final three points of the match to hold off the Zags by a score of 25-22.
Up Next
The Zags embark on their penultimate road trip of WCC play next weekend, set to face Santa Clara (9-14, 5-8) Thursday at 6 p.m. and San Francisco (0-21, 0-13) Saturday at 11 a.m. Check GoZags.com and follow @ZagVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date game time information, live coverage and more.
