NEWBERG, Ore. – For the second night in a row, George Fox University's Erin Campbell and Karlee Jo Sampson combined to lead the Bruins to a Northwest Conference volleyball victory, this time with 38 kills in a 3-2 win (25-20, 16-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12) over the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

The Bruins' deadly outside-hitting duo offset a sterling 29-kill performance by the Pios' Kataleya Milan, who only added to her 3.86 kills-per-set average which leads the conference and ranks 30th nationally in the NCAA Division III. 

Improving to 12-10 overall and 7-7 in the conference, the Bruins guaranteed themselves no worse than a .500 season after going 9-14 last year and moved into a tie for third in the NWC standings when Whitworth University fell 3-2 to Pacific Lutheran University.  The victory also moved George Fox coach Steve Grant within two of 600 career wins at 598.  Lewis & Clark fell to 5-15 overall and 4-10 in the league.

After eight ties in the early going, the Bruins broke an 11-11 deadlock on a combo block by Campbell and Tiffany Burk and gradually pulled away over the remainder of the first set.  Their lead hit six at 24-18 on a kill by Burk, and after a Bruin attack error and a Milan kill, Campbell put down the clinching winner.

The Pioneers, down 6-5 in the second set, moved in front with a 4-0 run featuring kills by Tessa Belanger and Milan and never looked back.  The visitors later used a 5-0 run to extend their margin to 20-11, all but finishing off the tying set.  The lead hit 10 at 23-13 on a Bruin attack error, and a service error gave L&C the final point.

The third set was a tight one that saw six lead changes and eight ties before the Bruins pulled it out.  With the score 14-14, three straight Pioneer attack errors and a block by Burk and Emily Carlson gave George Fox its largest lead of 18-14.  The Pios rallied to tie it one more time at 21-21, but a kill by Kylee Adderson and two by Sampson made it 24-21 Bruins, and they closed it out with Sampson's eighth kill of the set.

In the fourth set, the Pios tied it 5-5 on a service ace by Kayla Ernewein, and went in front on back-to-back blocks, the first by Belanger and Brigitte Russo and the second by Belanger and Kelsie Dorpat.  The Pios never trailed again and extended their lead to 15-10 on a Russo kill before the Bruins made one last run, tying it 17-17 on a block by Burk and Payton Shrum.  The Pios owned the rest of the set, however, closing with an 8-3 run that featured five Milan kills, including the last point.

In the deciding set, the Bruins fell behind 3-1 on a Dorpat kill, but a kill by Sampson, two by Burk, and a Burk-Erin Sprowls block gave them the lead for good.  The Pios twice climbed back within a point, the last at 10-9, but a kill by Burk and two by Sampson parried three kills by Milan before Campbell hammered home the final winner.

In addition to the big games by Campbell and Sampson, Burk added 12 kills and 10 blocks (one solo, nine assists) for the Bruins.  Shrum passed out a career-high 53 assists.  Defensively, Chelsea Wilson made 24 digs, and Sampson and Brooke Sturdevant had 13 apiece.  Helping Burk at the net were Shrum and Campbell with four block assists each as the Bruins had 11 blocks in all.

Milan got attack help from Russo with 12 kills, while Dorpat handed out 51 assists for the Pios.  Alexe Navarro led all defenders with 29 digs, Erinn Winstead added 17, and Milan had 11.  Belanger had five block assists out of the Pios' total of six blocks.

NEXT: George Fox hosts 16th-ranked Pacific Lutheran and Lewis & Clark College welcomes Pacific University Friday, both games starting at 7:00 p.m.