LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Gonzaga volleyball battled late into its final two sets of a West Coast Conference road matchup with Loyola Marymount (12-1) Tuesday night at Gersten Pavilion, but ultimately fell in straight sets (13-25, 24-26, 21-25) to the Lions, who tied with BYU for the best overall record in the conference with the win.
The Bulldogs (4-9, 0-2 WCC) were led on offense by junior outside hitter Marshall McKenna, who finished with 14 kills and two service aces while nearly notching a double-double with a team-high eight digs. Junior outside
Kennedy Croft and freshman
Juliette Russell added nine and six kills, respectively, to round out the offense. Russell put in the most efficient offensive performance of the night, hitting .400 with just two errors.
Freshman
Jody Smith put up two of GU's four blocks at middle, and sophomore setter
Keau Kamake'eaina produced 25 of the Zags' 28 assists.
The Lions pulled away with a 5-0 run early in the first set, fending off hopes of a GU rally en route to a 25-13 set win. LMU kept rolling early in the second despite a game-high hitting average (.267) and kills (13) from the Zags, leading by as much as five. A late 6-1 run from GU — punctuated by an LMU attack error that made it 24-22 — threatened to pry the second set away from the Lions, but they responded with a 4-0 run to close the set and nullify the rally for a 2-0 advantage.
The Zags led 7-5 in the third after a service ace from Marshall and a Kamake'eaina-assisted kill from Croft, but the Lions kept within striking distance, forcing ten tie scores and four lead changes. After McKenna's 13th kill of the night put the Zags within one at 21-20, LMU responded with another timely run, this time a 3-0 surge that brought the set to match point before finishing off with a kill.
Up Next
The Zags return home to the Martin Centre play host to Saint Mary's Thursday at 6 p.m. and Pacific Saturday at noon. Check GoZags.com and follow @ZagVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date game time information, coverage and more.
