NEWBERG, Ore. – One night after pushing the first-place Whitworth University Pirates to the limit in a 3-2 loss, the George Fox University Bruins suffered their second-worst hitting match of the season in a 3-1 loss to the last-place Whitman College Missionaries in Northwest Conference volleyball action Saturday here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

The visiting Missionaries hit .209 while holding the Bruins to a .053 mark in their 17-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-20 victory.  It was Whitman's first conference win of the year as the Missionaries  raised their record to 2-14 overall and 1-9 in the NWC.  George Fox suffered its fourth consecutive setback in falling to 7-12 overall and 2-8 in the league.

Whitman jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set with kills from Olivia Nielson, Samantha Cahill, and Megan Bafus, and led by as many as five points three times, the last at 13-8 after a winner by Becca Gotz.  The Bruins roared back from that point on, however, putting together strings of four, four, and seven points in a row to close with a 17-4 stretch.  Led by 10 kills from Erin Campbell, the Bruins hit .277 in the set, but failed to climb above the .000 mark in any of the next three sets.

In the second set, the Missionaries hit .269 while the Bruins struggled with a minus -.133 percentage.  A Cahill kill broke a 4-4 tie and the visitors never trailed again, putting the set away with a 7-0 run that made it 18-7 after a spike by Nielson.  A winner by Rachel Cline closed out the set and evened the match.

The third set was virtually a repeat of the second as the Missionaries hit .235 to .000 for the Bruins.  A 5-0 run enabled Whitman to break away from a 4-4 tie to take control, and the home team got no closer than four the rest of the way.  The Missionaries stretched the lead to 18-7 after a 6-0 run that featured two kills and a block by Jillian Davis (with an assist from Nielson), and led by 11 four times, including the final score.

Superior blocking - six of their 11 team blocks in the match came in the fourth set - enabled Whitman to complete their stunning victory.  The Missionaries built an early 5-2 lead with three straight points that were all blocked George Fox attacks, but the Bruins rallied and took a two-point lead of 14-12 following a kill by Tiffany Burk and a rare Whitman attack error.  The Bruins were still ahead 16-15 when the Missionaries exploded for a 7-0 outburst on kills by Rachel Shober and Nielson, three Bruin attack errors (one blocked), a bad set, and an ace by Annie Sing.  Two kills by Nielson around a final Bruin point on a Whitman service error gave the Missionaries the clincher.

The Bruins, who had 40 kills but committed 31 attack errors, were led by Campbell with 17 kills, and Burk was second with seven.  Mackenzie Teigen had 32 assists.  Defensively, Patti Reeves had 20 digs, Campbell 17, Betsy Wilhelm 13, Chelsea Wilson 12, and Teigen 10.

Davis and Cahill had 10 kills apiece and Nielson had nine to lead the Missionaries, who had 45 kills and only 14 errors.  Cline handed out 28 kills.  On defense, Sing made 29 digs and Davis 16, while Cline had six block assists, Nielson five, and Courtney Brewer had one solo block and four assists.

NEXT: George Fox ends a string of four straight home matches Friday at 7:00 p.m., hosting Lewis & Clark College.  The Bruins and Pioneers have split two previous meetings this season, the Bruins winning 3-1 in the Northwest Invitational at L&C on Sept. 3 and the Pios returning the favor with a 3-2 win on Sept. 23 in Portland ... Whitman returns home to host Willamette University Friday at 7:00 p.m.