NEWBERG, Ore. – Isabel Valentine posted 12 kills and Cassie Irwin, subbing for an injured Eliza Pledger, had nine kills and hit .444 as the George Fox University Bruins swept the Whitman College Missionaries 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-22) in Northwest Conference women's volleyball Friday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

Pledger, the Bruins' All-NWC middle blocker who leads the league in hitting percentage and blocks, sat out with continuing back problems, but Valentine and Irwin picked up the slack to give the Bruins back-to-back victories for the only the second time in an up-and-down season.  Valentine had 12 kills and only three errors in 28 attempts for a .321 percentage, and Irwin hit nine winners with only one error in 18 attempts for a new career-best hitting mark.

George Fox never trailed in the first set and maintained control throughout by hitting .306 to .111 for Whitman.  The Bruins built their largest lead at 12-3 on a balanced attack that featured two kills (and a solo block) by Valentine, two by Kristin Knaupp, and two by Irwin.  The Missionaries twice closed within four at 17-13 and 19-15 on kills by Jillian Davis, the conference leader with 3.68 per game, before the Bruins ended it with a 6-1 run.

Whitman took an early 3-0 lead in the second set behind a kill and an ace by Courtney Brewer, but the Bruins bounced back to go ahead 12-6 behind three kills from Stephanie Kerr, two from Betsy Wilhelm, and five Missionary attack errors, one on a block by Valentine.  The visitors recovered to forge five ties the rest of the way and even took a brief 17-16 lead on a winner by Olivia Nielson.  Back-to-back kills by Wilhelm broke a 20-20 tie, and an Ali Toedtemeier service ace put the Bruins up two sets to none.

The Bruins used 5-0 and 6-0 runs to build an early 13-4 lead in the third set, Irwin leading the way with three kills.  The Missionaries battled back and moved within a point at 22-21 following a 4-0 run that featured a block by Nielson and Maddy Bell, an ace by Nielson, a block by Brewer and Carrie Cecil, and yet another block by Brewer and Bell.  Valentine halted the threat with a cross-court kill and Irwin ended the match with a tip for the final winner.

The Bruins out-hit the Missionaries .185 (40-18-119) to .093 (32-21-118).  Toedtemeier set up the offense with 31 assists, giving her 1,793 in her career and moving her within four of tying Gina Kluver, now a Bruins' assistant coach, for ninth on the all-time list.  Patti Reeves with 14 digs, Wilhelm with 13, and Toedtemeier with 12 led the defense, while Valentine had three solo blocks and Irwin three block assists.

Davis paced the Missionaries with nine kills and Nielson and Brewer added seven each.  Rachel Cline handed out 26 assists, while Brewer had 13 digs, Hannah Holloran 12, and Davis 10.  The Missionaries had 10 team blocks, with Nielson and Brewer contributing to five each.

NEXT:  George Fox (9-12, NWC 4-7) hosts Whitworth College Saturday in a game that will start one hour earlier than usual, at 6:00 p.m., to allow the visiting Pirates some extra travel time back to Spokane, Wash. ... Whitworth (12-6, NWC 9-2) trails the league-leading University of Puget Sound by one game in the conference race ... Whitman (6-15, NWC 3-9) is off until next Friday, Oct. 29, when the Missionaries will host Linfield College at 7:00 p.m.