WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Dropping a five-set heartbreaker to Whitman College in the Northwest Conference women's volleyball opener for both teams, the George Fox University Bruins fell 3-2 (18-30, 30-24, 30-22, 23-30, 15-12) to the home-standing Missionaries Friday night here at the Sherwood Center.

The Bruins jumped out to early leads of 4-0 and 8-2 and were never seriously threatened in winning game one. A .345 attack percentage by George Fox to only .053 for Whitman ensured the Bruins' win, but they never came close to that mark again, and it proved costly.

In game two, the Missionaries took the lead for good at 9-6 with a 7-2 run, though the Bruins hung tough and were within three late in the game at 25-22. Lydia Hayes had a pair of kills to close out the win for Whitman, however.

Whitman seized control with a 5-0 run that broke a 6-6 tie in game three and gradually pulled away. The Missionaries hit a strong .324 to only .028 by the Bruins in the game.

George Fox snapped a 15-15 tie in game four on a kill by Elizabeth Anderson, sparking a 5-0 burst for a 20-15 lead. Whitman responded with four points of its own to close within a point at 20-19, but a service error and consecutive kills by Natalie Pickett put the Bruins back in control, and they closed out the game to even the match on a pair of aces by Jennifer Panico.

Clinging to an 11-10 lead in the deciding fifth game, the Missionaries got a kill from Alex Graves and two more from Leslie Compean to move within a point of victory. After a Whitman service error, George Fox crept within 14-12 on Amy Batchelder's ace, but Compean countered with her 15th kill of the night to put Whitman over the top.

Anderson with 17 kills, Panico with 12, and Whitney Kolb with 11 led the Bruins, who hit .168 for the match. Batchelder had 40 assists. Panico led the defense with 16 digs, Sarah Burkey added 12, and Jenna Dohren had 11. Anderson contributed to five of the Bruins' six blocks.

Hayes led all hitter with 19 kills for the Missionaries, followed by Compean with 15, Graves with 13, and Rosa Brey with 12. Whitman hit .187 in the match. Kristan Brown passed out 50 assists. Graves was the Missionaries' digs leader with 17, Kaelyn Merkel added 14, and Brown had 10. Brey was in on seven of the team's 10 blocks.

George Fox (5-3, NWC 0-1) visits Whitworth University and Whitman (5-4, NWC 1-0) hosts Pacific University Saturday, both matches starting at 5:00 p.m. to allow the road teams to travel home after the contests.