NEWBERG, Ore. - Struggling all evening to find some consistent offense, the George Fox University Bruins managed only a .019 hitting percentage and dropped their Northwest Conference home opener 3-0 to the visiting Willamette University Bearcats in a women's volleyball match Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

Trailing only briefly in the first two sets and never in the third, the Bearcats hit a solid .160 in sweeping the Bruins 25-22, 25-17, 25-20.  Both teams are now 5-6 overall, with George Fox falling to 0-2 in the conference and Willamette evening its league slate at 1-1.

The Bruins started the match strong, taking a 5-1 lead on two Willamette service errors, two attack errors, and a service ace by Chelsea Wilson.  Four straight points, including kills by Madisyn Leenstra and Molly Blankenship, enabled the Bearcats to forge ahead 12-10 and they never trailed again.  The Bruins managed two more ties, at 16-16 on a winner by Stephanie Kerr and at 20-20 on a block by Eliza Pledger and Cassie Irwin, but Willamette regained the lead each time and finished off the set with a spike by Danica Reed.

George Fox led only once in the second set, at 1-0, before the Bearcats took over, though they were never able to pull away until late.  A combination block by Kerr and Kristin Knaupp pulled the Bruins within two at 14-12, but the Bearcats went on an 11-5 run to close out the set and go up 2-0.

Willamette took a 3-0 lead to start the third set on two Bruin attack errors and a winner by Blankenship and held the lead throughout, except for a momentary 16-16 tie. The Bruins had trailed 16-10 before reeling off six unanswered points behind the serving of Wilson, who turned in a pair of aces to spark the run.  A kill by Blankenship halted the comeback, however, and sent the Bearcats off on a pair of four-point runs that put the set and match out of reach. 

Amanda White's seven kills paced the Bruins, who had 26 kills but 24 errors in 107 attempts.  Ali Toedtemeier passed out 23 assists.  Wilson and Jenna Dohren led the defense with 11 digs each, while Pledger was in on four of the team's seven blocks.

Blankenship posted 12 kills and Reed 10 for the Bearcats, who made 38 kills with 19 errors in 119 attacks.  Emily Compton distributed 32 assists.  On defense, Elizabeth Baldin had 14 digs and Kellie Menghini 10, with Carly Hargrave assisting on five of the Bearcats' six blocks.

NEXT: George Fox hosts Concordia University-Portland of the NAIA and Cascade Collegiate Conference in its final non-conference match of the season Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ... Willamette returns to action Friday with a conference clash at home against Pacific University at 7:00 p.m.