PORTLAND, Ore. — Gonzaga volleyball (4-6) stormed to a straight-sets victory (25-23, 25-22, 25-21) over North Dakota State (6-5) in its Les Schwab Rose City showdown opener at Portland State's Viking Pavilion, leaning on consistent offensive production to down a Bison squad that proved to be a threat late in each set.

Nine different Zags recorded kills in the winning effort, with McKenna Marshall (11), Zoe Thiros (nine) and Cara McKenzie (seven) leading the way. GU put up six blocks — the most in a single game since its four-set win over Air Force on Sept. 4 — and Brynn Chandler served up a season-high six aces while the team finished with nine. 

In her first game back after missing the Cougar Challenge in Pullman last weekend, Chandler also generated 33 of GU's 38 assists to pace a resurgent Zags attack that put up at least 13 kills in all three sets, all while tying with Marshall for the most digs on the team with 10.

Chandler picked up four of her service aces in the first nine points of the first set to fuel an 8-1 run that got the Zags off on the right foot. GU would lead by as much as nine after an NDSU attack error made it 20-11, but the Bison rattled seven straight to get within two and threaten to steal the set. A kill from McKenzie put the Zags up by two at set point, and an NDSU service error closed the set at 25-23.

GU got off to another hot start in the second while hitting a game-high .419 the entire set, scoring six of the first nine and weathering another push from the Bison before back-to-back attack errors gave the Zags a 17-12 lead. McKenzie made it 24-20 with her fifthth kill of the day, but NDSU got within two again late before McKenzie connected again to end the set with a 2-0 GU lead.

A decisive third set saw the Zags down 0-2 to start, but a 10-3 run that included kills from Grace Ehler, Juliette Russell and Alisa Kim handed them a commanding 10-5 advantage with a chance to close out. NDSU surged again late, but this time couldn't get within two as two kills from Thiros and another from McKenzie pushed GU to game point and an attack error sealed the match.

Up Next
The Zags' finale in Portland against the PSU Vikings is set for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date game time information, live stats and more.