PROVO, Utah – The Gonzaga volleyball team fell in four sets at No. 12 BYU Tuesday evening, falling 17-25, 25-23, 12-25 and 17-25 inside Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah.
 
Gonzaga (1-2, 1-2 WCC) was led by 14 kills from junior Kennedy Croft hitting .333 for the night. She added six digs for GU, while Julia Talarico finished with a team-high 13 digs. Tia Andaya led GU with 38 assists on the night to go along with five digs.
 
"We had some moments of greatness," Head Coach Diane Nelson said. "Our girls game out with the right mentality. WE can build on some of the great things that happened tonight."
 
The Bulldogs finished with 42 total kills on the nights hitting at a .132 clip to go along with 42 assists, 45 digs, 2.0 blocks and four service aces. The Bulldogs registered more attempts than the Cougars with a 136-130 advantage, but BYU (4-0, 3-0 WCC) hit .423 for the match, connecting for 66 kills with just 11 errors.
 
Gonzaga opened the first set with a service error to give BYU the early advantage, and midway through the first the Cougars had extended the lead to nine, 16-7. GU was unable to cover the gap, making way for the 25-17 first-set loss.
 
In the second set, GU capitalized on six BYU service errors and four kills each from Croft and Sarah Penner to maintain the lead for nearly the entire set. With a slim one-point advantage midway through the set, Penner connected on back-to-back kills to put GU up by three (13-10). GU held on to the three-point advantage until three-straight BYU points—two of which were from GU errors—tied the set 19 all. Eight plays later, the score was still gridlocked, this time at 23-all. Croft broke the tie off a kill from Andaya, while a BYU hitting error gave GU its set point, 25-23.
 
The Bulldogs opened the third set with another kill from Croft, but GU struggled to side-out with three-straight errors. BYU capitalized, taking the early 3-1 lead; midway through the set, BYU had extended the lead to seven (17-10). GU would score just two more points to give the Cougars the 25-12 third-set win.
 
In the fourth, the Zags struggled to hit, finishing with nine kills and nine errors. BYU hit .560 for the set for 14 kills with no errors. Despite GU's hitting struggles in the set, the Zags kept it close and tied the set 11-all following a BYU service error. The Cougars connected on the next play for a kill, sparking a 9-5 run to put the Cougars in front 20-15. GU was unable to close the gap, giving the Cougars the 25-17 set win and 3-1 match victory.
 
BYU was led by Taylen Ballard-Nixon with a match-high 17 points, while Whitney Bower added a double-double with 18 digs and 43 assists.
 
Gonzaga returns to play Wednesday, Feb. 10, taking on BYU once more inside the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The match is set to start at 3 p.m. PT. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date match time information.