SPOKANE, Wash. – Facing its second ranked opponent so far this week, Gonzaga Volleyball fell to No. 4 San Diego in straight sets (18-25, 18-25, 15-25) at the Martin Centre Thursday evening, despite taking an early lead in the first and second sets.
The Bulldogs (3-11, 0-4 WCC) connected on six service aces – two more than the Toreros (12-1, 3-0 WCC) – and got a team-high 11 kills from Zoe Thiros, the ninth time she's cracked double-digits so far this season. Grace Ehler added seven more kills on just seven attempts for a game-high 100% attack percentage, and Kennedy Croft, McKenna Marshall and Kelsie White all added three each.
Of GU's six aces, Alisa Kim and Marshall supplied four with two each, while Viktoriya Ivanova and Thiros added one each. Kim led both teams in digs with eight, and Keau Kamake'eaina generated 25 of GU's 30 assists.
The Bulldogs got off to a hot start in the first set, beginning with a 3-0 run and a pair of aces from Marshall and Thiros that made it 7-4 GU. USD's offense started picking up some steam after the Toreros took their first lead on a service errors and a block, putting together a 4-0 run to take control at 19-14 and scoring six of the next 10 to keep the Zags from challenging again en route to a 25-18 set win.
GU took an early led in the second set as well, battling to a 10-10 draw before another USD surge – this time a 6-1 run with 3 kills and two aces – gave the Toreros a cushion they wouldn't relinquish heading into the final stretch, 20-14. A kill from Ehler and another ace from Kim cut the deficit to four, but the Toreros scored five of the final seven points of the set in response to take a commanding 2-0 set lead. USD closed out strong with their best offensive performance of the night in set three, jumping out to a 4-0 advantage and hitting a game-high .613 to go with 21 kills to secure the sweep.
GU's homestand continues Saturday with a matchup with BYU at 12 p.m. PST. Live stats and streaming options will be available via GoZags.com. Follow @ZagVolleyball on IG and Twitter for updates and more.
