FOREST GROVE, Ore. – With Cassie Irwin collecting a team-high eight kills and Tiffany Burk hitting a scorching .556 percentage, the George Fox University Bruin opened their 2012 women's volleyball season with a 3-0 road win (25-19, 25-22, 25-22) over the Pacific University Boxers Friday evening here at the Stoller Center.

The game was a match-up of Northwest Conference foes, but the outcome will go down as a non-league contest, as the two will meet twice more during the regular conference season.

In the first set of the fall for both teams, the Bruins marched out to a 10-4 lead behind kills by Lucy Capron, Erin Campbell, Irwin and Kylee Adderson, and back-to-back service aces by Payton Shrum.  The Boxers rallied as Becky Sheller served four straight winning points, culminating on an Alexa Block kill that brought the home team within one at 13-12.  Pacific stayed within three points until late, when a pair of Pacific attack errors and a Campbell ace gave the Bruins the 25-19 win.

George Fox vaulted out to a 6-0 lead in the second set, thanks in part to four Pacific errors.  The Boxers came back to within 10-8 on an Emily Farnham ace, but the Bruins held strong, not allowing the Boxers a point off of their own serve again until Marie Rewick gave Pacific the serve back with her kill at 24-17.  Sheller served five straight points Boxer points again before Irwin closed it out with a kill to make it a 25-22 Bruins' win.

Both teams had their best hitting performance of the night in the third set, but the Bruins' .273 percentage bettered the Boxers' .194 mark.  George Fox took a 9-3 lead on the Boxers' third attack error, but the Boxers came back to within 9-6 on a Bruins' miscue.  The visitors extended their lead back to 20-13 on an Irwin winner before Rewick served four winning points, the last coming off a block by Mariah McHolland, to bring the Boxers within a pair at 20-18.  Kills by Campbell and Betsy Wilhelm and an ace by Chelsea Brustad put the Bruins within a point of victory, and Irwin closed out the sweep with a final spike.

Irwin hit .263 with her eight kills as five of the Bruins' six starters finished with at least five winners.  Burk, who committed only one error in nine attempts, and Capron each had six kills, while Campbell and Adderson had five apiece.  Brustad notched a double-double of 15 assists and 10 digs, and Shrum handed out 11 assists.  Burk had three block assists.  The Bruins finished with a .170 team attack percentage (32-16-94) while holding the Boxers to a .071 mark (31-24-99).

Rewick led the Boxers with nine kills and had a .273 hitting percentage, while Block added eight kills and hit .278.  Keahi Braginsky-Ahloo also had eight kills, Farnham passed out 25 assists, Sheller made 11 digs, and McHolland had a team-high four block assists.

NEXT: George Fox opens its home season Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym against Occidental College, which is the defending Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion and a pre-season No. 23 pick in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.  It will be the season opener for the Tigers, who will also play Pacific at 5:00 p.m. at George Fox.