THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Led by Betsy Wilhelm and Cassie Irwin, who combined for 27 kills, the George Fox University Bruins defeated the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Athenas 3-0 Friday evening to finish the first day of the Cal-Lu-fornia Women's Volleyball Tournament with a 1-1 record here at Gilbert Arena.

In an afternoon match, the Bruins dropped a 25-18, 25-18, 25-20 decision to the Occidental College Tigers, but bounced back to sweep the Athenas 25-17, 27-25, 25-19.  George Fox is now 4-3 on the season.

Occidental (L 18-25, 18-25, 20-25)

An overall hitting percentage of only .105 (31 kills and 20 errors in 105 attempts) proved to be too much for the Bruins to overcome in their first match of the tournament as they were swept by the Tigers.  

Eliza Pledger and Isabel Valentine led the Bruins with six kills apiece, Pledger connecting for a .286 hitting percentage with no errors and Valentine for a .267 mark.  Ali Toedtemeier handed out 16 assists.  On defense, Patti Reeves made 20 digs, while Valentine contributed four block assists.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (W 25-17, 27-25, 25-19)

The Bruins completely turned things around in the nightcap, hitting .226 with 45 kills and 15 errors in 133 attempts to hand the Athenas their first loss of the season after six straight wins.  In the tight second set, the Bruins put down 22 kills, with Wilhelm posting seven, Irwin six, and Toedtemeier handing out 18 assists.

Wilhelm had 14 kills in all and hit .333 to lead the Bruins offensively, while Irwin had 13.  Pledger added seven kills with a .357 hitting percentage, and Toedtemeier wound up with 34 assists and 15 digs.  Reeves led all defenders with 26 digs.  The Bruins had 10 blocks as a team, with Pledger and Stephanie Kerr contributing to six apiece (one solo and five assists each).

No opponents' statistics were available immediately for either match. 

NEXT: George Fox concludes play in the Cal-Lu-fornia Tournament Saturday against Whittier College at 10:30 a.m. and the University of California-Santa Cruz at 1:00 p.m.   The Bruins have already met Whittier once this year, defeating the Poets 3-0 in last weekend's Northwest Conference Invitational at Lewis & Clark College.