PORTLAND, Ore. – With a trio of hitters combining for 39 kills, the George Fox University Bruins stretched their winning streak to three in a row, their longest of the season, with a 3-1 win (25-21, 25-22, 25-27, 25-19) over the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers in Northwest Conference women's volleyball Saturday night here at the Pamplin Sports Center.

Freshman outside hitters Karlee Jo Sampson and Erin Sprowls had 15 and 12 kills respectively, and junior middle blocker Tiffany Burk added 12 kills.  Sprowls hit .400 and Burk .333 as the Bruins improved to 8-6 while dropping the Pios to 4-8.  Both teams are now 3-3 in conference play.

George Fox jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening set and never trailed, but had to fight off Lewis & Clark comebacks that three times resulted in late ties.  The Bruins' hot start included kills by Kylee Adderson and Sprowls sandwiched around four Pioneer attack errors.  A 5-0 run, including a pair of spikes by Brigitte Russo, midway through the set got the Pios back within one at 11-10, and they eventually forged ties of 18-18, 19-19, and 20-20.  A kill by Burk and three straight service aces by Erin Campbell enabled the Bruins to pull away, and Burk closed it with her fourth winner of the set.

Again the Bruins built a sizeable early 10-5 lead in the second set with a 5-0 run featuring three kills by Campbell, and they stretched it to 14-8 on yet another Campbell ace.  The Pios got back within two at 24-22 on a winner by Alicia Callejo-Black before Sampson ended the threat with a final kill.

The Bruins appeared well on their way to finishing off their hosts in three straight sets as they built a 17-10 lead behind four Burk kills, but the Pios refused to die.  Kills by Kataleya Milan and Kayla Ernewein and an ace by Milan sparked a 10-3 run that earned the home team a 20-20 tie, and the set was nip-and-tuck from that point on.  The Pios took one-point leads three times and the Bruins twice before a George Fox error enabled L&C to break a 25-25 tie, and a kill by Russo gave the Pios their only set of the match.

The fourth set saw eight ties, the final at 18-18, before the Bruins broke free.  A kill by Sampson put the Bruins ahead for good, and they added an ace by Burk and two combo blocks, Adderson on both with Sampson and Payton Shrum, for a 22-18 lead.  After a momentary lull caused by a Pio winner from Tessa Belanger, Sampson added her final two kills and Shrum served an ace to end the match.

Shrum set up the George Fox offense with 44 assists and had three aces, while Campbell finished with six aces as well.  Chelsea Wilson made 26 digs, Campbell 14, and Kelsea Meyers just missed double digits with nine.  Burk was in on six of the Bruins' 10 blocks, Shrum on five, and Adderson on four.  Burk now has 216 career blocks, moving her past Stephanie Kerr (212, 2008-11) and into a tie with Natalie Pickett (216, 2005-08) for sixth on the George Fox career list.   

Milan had 20 kills and Russo 19 to pace the Pioneers, with Kelsie Dorpat handing out 49 assists.  Alexe Navarro led all defenders with 30 digs, Milan added 20, and Dorpat had 15.  Belanger contributed to four of the Pios' six team blocks.

NEXT: George Fox visits 15th-ranked Pacific Lutheran University while Lewis & Clark goes to Pacific University Friday, both matches starting at 7:00 p.m.