THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – After letting a 2-0 lead in sets slip away in a 3-2 loss to the University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, the George Fox University Bruins bounced back with a 3-1 win over the Whittier College Poets on the final day of the Cal-Lu-fornia Women's Volleyball Tournament Saturday here at Gilbert Arena.

In a morning match, the Slugs stunned the Bruins 12-25, 13-25, 25-22, 26-24, 15-6.  In the afternoon, the Bruins beat the Poets for the second time this season 25-9, 25-18, 24-26, 25-17.  George Fox had scored a 3-2 win over Whittier last week in the Northwest Conference Invitational at Lewis & Clark College.

California-Santa Cruz (L 25-12, 25-13, 22-25, 24-26, 6-15)

In a Jekyll-and-Hyde performance, the Bruins cruised through the first two sets, let the Slugs off the hook in sets three and four, and were totally over-matched in the fifth set.  In the first two sets, George Fox hit a combined .288, with 25 kills and only eight errors in 59 attempts.  After dropping the third set, the Bruins battled back from a 23-18 deficit to tie the Slugs 23-23 and 24-24, but could not seal the match.  Santa Cruz then held the Bruins to a minus-.059 hitting percentage in the deciding set.

Eliza Pledger posted 15 kills and hit .433 and Stephanie Kerr recorded 14 kills with a .500 hitting mark for the Bruins, but the rest of the team hit only .055.  Betsy Wilhelm chipped in with 10 kills, and Ali Toedtemeier handed out 47 assists.  Patti Reeves led the defense with 35 digs, with Wilhelm adding 15, Cassie Irwin 12, and Toedtemeier 10.  Pledger had two solo blocks and two block assists.

Whittier (W 25-9, 25-18, 24-26, 25-17)

George Fox totally dominated the opening set against Whittier, hitting .357 in a runaway win.  After taking the second set, the Bruins lost a close one in the third set, but were in no mood to see another match escape them and fought off the California school in the fourth set, despite hitting only .056, with a stellar defensive effort.

Pledger and Kerr were the offensive sparkplugs again for the Bruins, Pledger making 15 kills for the second straight match while hitting .353 and Kerr hammering down 10 kills with a .261 percentage.  Toedtemeier distributed 42 assists.  Reeves was everywhere on defense, picking up 44 digs, just eight short of the George Fox record of 52 by Sharon Barnett vs. Western Oregon on Nov. 14, 1998 (in five sets).  Toedtemeier also had 11 digs.  The Bruins made 12 blocks in the match, Pledger recording one solo and seven block assists and Kerr seven block assists.

No opponents' statistics were available immediately for either match. 

NEXT: George Fox (2-2 in the Cal-Lu-fornia Tournament and 5-4 overall) opens Northwest Conference play Friday at 7:00 p.m. against Lewis & Clark in Portland.  The Bruins were picked to finish fourth in the NWC pre-season coaches' poll, one point behind L&C.