SPOKANE, Wash. — Despite a dominant performance in set one and a 19-kill effort from Kennedy Croft, Gonzaga volleyball fell in four sets (25-10, 22-25, 18-25, 15-25) to Pacific in its West Coast Conference opener Thursday night at the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre.

The Bulldogs (3-8, 0-1 WCC) got a career-high four aces from McKenna Marshall and three more from Zoe Thiros, who added seven kills. Croft's 19 kills were the most she's finished with in a game this season.

GU set the tone early with a dominant 25-10 win in set one — their biggest margin of victory in a set so far this season. Marshall got the Zags going early with a pair of aces to start the match, and the Zags offense kept rolling with a pair of 4-0 runs to take an 11-6 lead that would only grow by set point. Another 4-0 run — this time with a pair of kills from Croft and an ace from Thiros — put GU up 20-9, and the Zag scored the final five points of the set to close out a .421 hitting performance.

The Tigers turned it around in set two, going on a 9-3 run to take their first lead of the game and go ahead by 13-11. Down 24-22 after three lead changes and eight ties, GU couldn't hold off set point and Pacific equalized. The Tigers' momentum continued in the third and fourth sets as they went for the close, connecting on a combined 34 kills in that span and scoring the final three points of the match to dispatch GU in four.

The Zags' homestand continues on Saturday, when they play host to Saint Mary's (4-5, 1-0 WCC) in the Martin Centre at noon. Live stats and streaming options will be available via GoZags.com. Follow @ZagVolleyball on IG and Twitter for updates and more.