NEWBERG, Ore. – With 46 kills and only eight errors in 121 attempts for a season-high .314 hitting percentage, the George Fox University Bruins scuttled the Whitworth University Pirates 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-20) in a Northwest Conference women's volleyball match here Saturday evening at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

The Bruins were particularly effective in the middle as Tiffany Burk (10-1-21) and Kylee Adderson (8-1-15) combined to hit .444.  Lucy Capron had a match-high 11 kills with only one error and a .312 hitting percentage, while outside hitters Cassie Irwin and Erin Campbell had a collective 16 kills with only four errors.  Setting up the offensive assault were Payton Shrum with 28 kills in the first two sets and Chelsea Brustad with 11 in the third.

After falling behind 4-2 in the first set, the Bruins took control with a 5-0 run that featured consecutive kills by Campbell and back-to-back service aces by Chelsea Wilson.  Whitworth never put more than two points together at any time thereafter as the Bruins stayed comfortably ahead, finally clinching the set on a winner by Burk.  George Fox hit .310 in the set to .224 for Whitworth.

The Pirates stayed close in the second set and were only down one at 10-9 following a rare Bruin attack error.  A kill by Adderson started a 4-0 run, capped by kills from Irwin and Capron, that gave the Bruins a little breathing room, and the Pirates got no closer than four the rest of the way.  Burk again sealed the deal with a set-ending kill as the Bruins hit .308 while holding the Pirates to a .079 mark.

In the finale, Adderson had two kills around an ace by Campbell that lifted the Bruins from a 5-4 deficit to a 7-5 lead, and they stayed in front to the end.  Ahead by three at 17-14, the Bruins put some distance between themselves and the Pirates as Capron hit three straight winners, followed by one from Irwin, that made it 21-14.  Down 24-17, Jalana White had two kills as the Pirates scored three in a row to stave off elimination, but it was too little, too late as Adderson concluded the match with a spike.  The consistent Bruins hit .325 in the final stanza to .103 for the Pirates.

Defensively, the Bruins made 69 digs to 56 for the Pirates, led by Wilson's 20 and Capron's 13.  The Bruins also had four blocks to one for the visitors, with Burk and Brustad contributing two block assists each.

White had a match-high 13 kills for the Pirates and Nicole Leonard added eight.  Maddye Dinsmore passed out 27 assists and had a team-high 15 digs.  Whitney Santos added 13 digs and Leonard made 12.

NEXT: George Fox (6-7, NWC 4-2), now tied for third in the conference with Pacific University, goes to league-leading and 18th-ranked Pacific Lutheran University Friday for a 7:00 p.m. match ... Whitworth (5-8, NWC 1-5) returns home to host Pacific Friday at 7:00 p.m.