PROVO, Utah – The Gonzaga volleyball team fell in three sets (25-19, 25-22, 25-22) at BYU Wednesday evening inside the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah.
 
Gonzaga (1-3, 1-3 WCC) was led by a double-double from junior Kennedy Croft with 11 kills and a team-high tying 14 digs. The Tumwater, Wash., native hit a match-leading .474 from the floor. Julia Talarico added 14 digs, while Tia Andaya added a team-high 26 assists.
 
BYU (5-0, 4-0 WCC) finished with 40 kills on the day hitting .191 with 52 digs and 7.0 total blocks. Gonzaga tallied 34 kills hitting .178 with 48 digs, 32 assists and 5.0 total blocks.
 
The match featured 24 total ties and eight lead changes. In the first set, a kill from Croft put GU in front early, but a Bulldog service error put BYU on the board. Midway through the set, the score was tied 10-all, but a 4-0 run in favor of BYU gave the Cougars some breathing room. GU was never able to close the gap, and BYU continued on for the 25-19 first set victory.
 
The second set started off with back-to-back kills from sophomore Alyssa Hughes to give GU the 2-0 advantage, and GU held the edge until a kill from BYU's Leilani Dodson gave BYU it's first lead of the set at 8-7. Croft evened things up for the Zags with a kill of her own, and this back-and-forth play continued until BYU's Kate Grimmer tallied a kill to break a 20-all tie. That sparked a 4-0 BYU run to put the Cougars in front 24-20. With the set point on the line, BYU committed back-to-back errors to give the Zags a chance, but a kill from Grimmer once more sealed the 25-22 second-set victory.
 
BYU struck first in the third set, and the Cougars maintained the lead until late in the set. Back-to-back kills from Croft tied the set 17-all, and a BYU attacking error coupled with a service ace from Alisa Kim gave GU the 19-17 advantage. BYU responded, tying the set at 19 and 20 before a kill from Grimmer along with a GU attacking error gave BYU a two-point advantage (22-20). GU was unable to recover, and the Cougars continued on for the 25-22 set win and 3-0 match sweep.
 
"We played hard and made some great adjustments on defense," Head Coach Diane Nelson said. "We weren't our best offensively. But, we know it's about building and growing."
 
BYU was led by Grimmer with 13 kills while Taylen Ballard-Nixon added 12 kills. Whitney Bower finished with a match-high 34 assists, while Madi Allen added a match-high 16 digs.
 
Gonzaga returns to Spokane for its home-opener Sunday, Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. inside the Martin Centre. Up-to-date match information is available on GoZags.com.