SPOKANE, Wash. – Facing a 2-1 deficit, Santa Clara volleyball came back in the fourth and fifth sets to pick up a 3-2 win over Gonzaga on Thursday inside the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre. The Zags and Broncos battled point for point early in the fifth, but a late push from SCU gave them the 25-20, 23-25, 16-25, 25-13, 15-11 win.
 
Santa Clara (7-10, 3-5 WCC) improves to 3-5 in West Coast Conference play, while Gonzaga (1-17, 0-8 WCC) falls to 0-8. In their previous two matches, the Bulldogs held 2-1 leads before falling in close fifth-set battles.
 
Three of Santa Clara's hitters recorded over 15 kills on Thursday, led by 20 from Oren Abutbul and 19 from Alayna Crabtree. For the Zags, it was Autumn Larson who led the way with 12 kills, followed closely by Maggie Rickert with 11. Taylor Walsh caught fire in the deciding fifth set, notching a clean 5-for-5 outing to bring her match total to nine kills.
 
Nia Damuni played a huge role in Gonzaga's wins of sets two and three. The sophomore setter picked up 18 assists and 11 digs, part of a 39 and 21 night, as GU took a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.
 
The Broncos wasted no time in set four, earning a 25-13 win to send the match to a fifth set, where GU and SCU battled point-for-point before Santa Clara scored back-to-back to take a 9-8 lead. Despite multiple attempts to quiet the late Bronco surge, the Zags could not catch SCU.
 
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The Zags will hit the road to Pullman on Saturday to face Washington State for the first time since 2021. First serve is set for 12 p.m. and streaming information can be found at www.gozags.com.