SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga volleyball team fell to UC San Diego in four sets, 25-22, 13-25, 19-25, 18-25 in their final match of the Gonzaga Tournament on Saturday. Despite the Bulldogs taking the first set 25-22, the Tritons battled back to take the next three and win the match 3-1.

THE ACTION
First Set – Gonzaga, 25-22

• Gonzaga (2-4) led off the first set with six straight points, as Viktoriya Ivanova recorded three consecutive service aces to start the match.
• UC San Diego (4-2) attempted to claw back, getting as close as four, but the Zags continued to hang strong through the midway point of Set One.
• Building a lead as large as eight, GU looked to run away and go up 1-0, but UCSD responded and pulled within two. However, Zoe Thiros' fourth kill of the set put the Tritons away and gave Gonzaga the early 1-0 advantage.

Second Set – UC San Diego, 25-13

• UC San Diego opened the second set on an 8-1 run, led by a pair of kills from both Zaria Henderson and Jasmine Saran.
• Coming out of their first timeout of the set, the Zags pulled within 4, trailing 9-5. UCSD responded with three straight points to bring their lead back out to seven (12-5).
• That lead continued to grow for UC San Diego, as they found themselves up 19-10, eventually winning the second set 25-13.

Third Set – UC San Diego, 25-19

• The Tritons jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead at the beginning of Set Three behind two kills from Ava McInnes. Gonzaga fought to within two, but the Tritons extended to an 11-4 advantage after a 4-0 run.
• Once again, the Zags battled back to within four, down 13-9. The lead would stay around four until three straight points from UC San Diego put the visiting team back up 21-14.
• Despite a final effort from GU, UCSD would not budge, taking the third set 25-19 and claiming a 2-1 match advantage.

Fourth Set – Winner, 25-18

• Gonzaga and UC San Diego battled back-and-forth to open the fourth set. The Zags benefited from a variety of offense early on, with Fallon Thompson, Thiros, Jody Smith, Nia Damuni, and Autumn Larson each recording kills.
• The Tritons built a 12-8 lead, but another 3-0 response from the Zags had them back within one, trailing 12-11.
• UC San Diego rode a 9-3 run to widen the gap to seven, leading 21-14. They would not look back as they eventually took the Set Four victory, 25-18 to claim the 3-1 win.

 
UP NEXT
Gonzaga will head to Pocatello, Idaho for the Idaho State Tournament, hosted by Idaho State University. Their first matchup will be on Friday, Sept. 8 against Utah Valley at 4 p.m. PST.
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Zags Take Down Idaho in Four Sets
After falling in a heartbreaking fifth set to Air Force on Friday, the Gonzaga volleyball team bounced back immediately to defeat Idaho in four sets Saturday morning. Autumn Larson led all scorers with 14 kills, and Zoe Thiros recorded her second straight double-double as the Zags won 25-19, 23-25, 25-14, 25-20.
 
THE ACTION
First Set – Gonzaga, 25-19

• Despite trailing 9-5 early in the first, Gonzaga (2-3) rattled off four straight points behind a pair of Larson kills to knot the score and force an Idaho (1-4) timeout.
• GU would extend their run coming out of the timeout to seven, taking a 12-9 lead. The Vandals would close the gap and tie the set, 15-15.
• Leading 21-19, three straight kills from Larson and a set error from Idaho put Set One to a close, Gonzaga winning 25-19. Larson racked up six kills in the set, leading all in the match.

Second Set – Idaho, 25-23

• Set two opened with a back-and-forth affair, until the Zags broke the 7-7 tie with a 6-0 run and 13-7 lead. Idaho would crawl back, eventually tying the score at 19-19 before taking their first lead in the set since 6-5. The Vandals would lead again 23-22 and force a Gonzaga timeout.
• A Jody Smith kill would tie things up again but kills from Idaho's Chiara Gennari and Renata Lopez Morales would seal the Vandal victory in Set Two to bring the match to a 1-1 tie.
• Juliette Russell led the Zags with four kills and Larson chipped in three to bring her match total to nine.

Third Set – Gonzaga, 25-14

• Gonzaga got off to a 7-4 lead in the third, led by Thiros with three straight service aces. After an Idaho timeout, GU continued to extend their lead to 16-10. Thiros continued to dominate as she picked up her third and fourth kills of the set in that stretch.
• The Zags would not look back in the third, as a pair of Larson kills and two Gonzaga aces put the set to a close, 25-14.

Fourth Set – Gonzaga, 25-20

• The fourth set began in similar fashion to the second, with Idaho and Gonzaga trading points and keeping the score close. Neither team would build a lead of more than three points until 19-15, when the Zags began to run away with the set.
• Leading 22-19, a final 3-1 run by GU completed the 25-20 set victory a 3-1 match win. Zoe Thiros picked up three kills in the final three Gonzaga points to earn her second-consecutive double-double.

 
QUICK STATS

• Larson's 14 kills mark a new season and career-high, besting her previous mark of 13 set just a week ago in Muncie, adding two digs and three blocks.
• Thiros joined Larson in double-figures with ten kills and 12 digs, which marks her 13th career double-double and her second consecutive after a 15 kill, ten dig night on Friday against Air Force.
• As a team, Gonzaga outhit Idaho 45-40 in kills and added 13 service aces, which is one shy of the program record of 14 during the rally scoring era (2001-present).