WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Recovering nicely from their worst offensive night of the season in a 3-0 loss at Whitworth University on Friday, the George Fox University Bruins hit .205 and used 14 blocks to knock off the Whitman College Missionaries 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 25-13) in a Northwest Conference women's volleyball match Saturday night here in the Sherwood Center.

With the victory, the Bruins improved to 15-5 overall and 8-4 in conference play, climbing into a three-way tie for second place behind Pacific Lutheran University.  George Fox is now tied with the University of Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark College.  Whitman fell to 4-14 overall and 1-11 in the league.

George Fox dominated set one, racing away to leads of 7-1, 11-3, 16-8, and 20-11. A four-point spurt by the Missionaries late in the game made the final score closer, but Stephanie Kerr's kill wrapped up the win for the Bruins.

Set two was a different story as the two sides deadlocked seven times in the early going. After George Fox inched ahead 13-9, Whitman won the next nine points for an 18-13 lead. Courtney Brewer and Alex Graves had two kills apiece to spark the run, and Brewer teamed with Katie Richards for two blocks.  The Bruins responded with a four-point run to trail by one, but kills by Brewer and Graves kept the Missionaries in front 19-17 and 21-17. Graves, who had a total of seven kills in the set, added two more down the stretch as Whitman squared the match at 1-1.

Whitman retained command to start the third set, breaking free of a 6-6 stalemate to grab leads of 13-7, 14-9 and 16-12. The Bruins rallied with two kills from Kerr and one from Sarah Crossfield, along with two blocks at the net, Kaitlyn Maddams teaming up with Crossfield and Jennifer Panico once each, to even the score at 20-20.  Ties followed on each of the next four numbers before two more Kerr kills gave George Fox the narrow win.

As was the case in the opening set, George Fox took charge early in set four, jumping ahead 4-1 and 10-2 and never looking back.  The Bruins hit .387, with 13 kills and only one error, in the final set while holding the Missionaries to a minus-.026 percentage.

Lyndsay Hovee led George Fox with 14 kills on the night, while Crossfield and Kerr added 10 apiece.  Kerr hit .350 and Maddams had a .368 percentage with eight kills.  Ali Toedtemeier handed out 26 assists and Lani Rasmussen had 19.  Hovee had a match-high 28 digs, one short of her career high, with Toedtemeier making 16, Panico 14, and Carley Johnson 13.  Maddams had nine block assists and Kerr six, each equaling their career highs, and Eliza Pledger had two solo blocks and three assists. 

Graves led all hitters with 16 kills for the Missionaries and Brewer chipped in with 10.  Katie Richards passed out 41 assists.  Kelsie Butts made 15 digs, Breanne Robirds 14, and Katie Miller and Graves 12 each.  Brewer had one solo and seven block assists as the Missionaries had 13 team blocks. 

George Fox plays its next three at home, starting Friday with Pacific University at 7:00 p.m.  Whitman hosts Lewis-Clark State College in a non-conference match Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.