PROVO, Utah – The San Francisco volleyball team gave their all against the No. 12 BYU Cougars before falling 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Smith Fieldhouse.

The Dons were solid on the net, holding the nation's 12th-best blocking team to six total blocks on the day, while the Dons tallied five blocks of their own. Despite the loss, USF head coach Gilad Doron noted the positives the squad can take out of the performance.

"I thought we played very well today against a very, very tough team a home. Game one, we matched them step for step. I thought our offense got stronger as the game progressed as I saw some growth again in our young players and they stepped it up when we needed them to.

"That's probably one of our better blocking matches with BYU, so I thought we saw growth in our team there. We'll have to clean up some other things, but I'm proud of how our team fought today and made some good plays. Unfortunately we came up short, but I think we will get our heads up and be ready for Saint Mary's on Tuesday."

The Dons were paced by 11 kills for junior Katarina Pilepic, and Emily Reed added six kills on .286 hitting. Kiara McKibben assisted on 23 points and finished with a team-high seven digs for the Dons. All-American Alexa Gray was the leader for the Cougars, compiling 19 kills on .372 hitting and nine digs.

USF and BYU were locked in a battle in the first frame, featuring six lead changes and 14 tie scores. After the Cougars rolled off the first three points in the afternoon, the Dons went on the attack and pulled ahead 8-5 after a service ace for Pilepic. USF maintained the three point margin after Danelle Parady's attack missed the mark and put the score at 10-7 in favor of the Dons.

After BYU nabbed the 15-13 lead, USF scored four straight points. Reed's attack with the assist for McKibben forced the Cougars to call a timeout down 17-15. The set stayed tight throughout the remainder, and the Dons held the 24-23 lead after Reed's kill put BYU on its heels. The set eventually went to extra points before the Cougars escaped with the 27-25 win in the first.

The second and third sets went to BYU 25-12,  25-17 to close the afternoon. The WCC-leading Cougars advanced to 25-3, and 15-2 in league play, while USF sits at 16-14 (3-14 WCC).

The Dons wrap up the 2015 campaign on Tuesday night in Moraga. USF faces off with Bay Area rival Saint Mary's at McKeon Pavilion, with first serve slated for 7 p.m.