SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga volleyball started and finished strong in a four-set rout (25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22) of its in-state rival Eastern Washington at the Martin Centre Tuesday night, notching season-highs in hitting percentage (.274) and service aces (8) in the process.

Zoe Thiros (18 kills) and Kennedy Croft (16) led the attack from the outside, with Alyssa Hughes adding six more kills on a team-best .667 hitting percentage and McKenna Marshall just behind her with nine of her own at a .429 clip. 

Marshall also supplied half of GU's aces with a career-high four to her name, with Croft adding three more. Keau Kamake'eaina poured in a season-high 44 assists (four sets) to go with an ace of her own while Alisa Kim led five Zags who notched double-digit digs with 19. 

GU didn't take control until late in the first set, when the Bulldogs scored six of the final eight points — five of which were kills from Thiros or Croft — to storm ahead to a 1-0 set lead. The Bulldogs hit .333 in the opening set, buoyed by a combined 12 kills from the pair of outside hitters.

The Bulldogs seized momentum at the end of the set again in the third, bouncing back from a second set that saw the Eagles equalize with 17 kills. After a 3-0 run from EWU put the Eagles up 20-18 and forced GU into a timeout, the Zags responded by scoring seven of the final nine to regain traction and the set lead.

The offensive floodgates opened in a decisive fourth set, with the Bulldogs reaching a season-high .405 hitting percentage and 19 kills to fend off a pesky Eagles squad determined to stretch it to five. A 5-0 run — GU's longest of the night — saw three more Croft kills and the Zags never relinquished their lead again.

Up Next

The Bulldogs have the weekend off, set to open conference play at home in the Martin Centre against Pacific (5-4) Sep. 22 at 6 p.m. Live stats and streaming options will be available via GoZags.com. Follow @ZagVolleyball on IG and Twitter for updates and more.