SPOKANE, Wash. - Hitting over .300 in each of the first two sets, the Whitworth University Pirates cruised past the visiting George Fox University Bruins in those two sets before taking a tight third set by two points for a 3-0 sweep (25-12, 25-16, 26-24) in Northwest Conference women's volleyball Saturday night here at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The Pirates hit .304 (10-3-23) while holding the Bruins to a minus-.037 (6-7-27) in the first set.  Whitworth took advantage of four George Fox attack errors and a ball-handling miscue in a 6-0 run early in the game that enabled the Pirates to move from a 4-3 lead to a 10-3 advantage, and the Bruins got no closer than six the rest of the way.

It was a similar story in the second set as Whitworth hit .303 (14-4-33) to minus-.054 (8-10-37) for George Fox.  The Bruins took a 2-0 lead on a Pirate service error and a kill by Betsy Wilhelm, and were still within two at 14-12 after a kill by Isabel Valentine before the Pirates pulled away.  Seven unanswered points featuring two kills by Randi Stephens and one each by Brynn DeLong and Amanda Grumbach stretched the Whitworth lead to 21-12, and the Pirates finished it off with a winner by Grumbach.

The third set could not have been closer, with 12 ties and no lead by either team of more than two points.  Leading 24-22, the Bruins had two chances to keep the match going, but the Pirates tied it on a Bruin service error and a kill by Grumbach, then finished off the win with kills by Ka'ipo Rocha and Grumbach.  The Pirates hit .268 (16-5-41) in the set, while the Bruins finally got their offense on track, hitting .214 (26-7-42).

Valentine had eight kills and Stephanie Kerr seven to lead the Bruins, while Ali Toedtemeier had 27 assists.  The Bruins finished with a .057 hitting percentage (30-24-106).  Toedtemeier had eight digs, and Wilhelm and Valentine had three block assists each.

Grumbach had a game-high 15 kills for the Pirates, and Bree Riddle passed out 32 assists.  Whitworth hit .289 as a team (40-12-97).  Whitney Santos had 13 digs, and Stephens, Ka'ipo Rocha, and Kaimi Rocha had three block assists each. 

NEXT: George Fox (6-8, NWC 1-3) returns home to host the University of Puget Sound Friday at 7:00 p.m. ... Whitworth (6-5, NWC 3-1) visits Pacific University Friday at 7:00 p.m.