NEWBERG, Ore. – Libero Chelsea Wilson set a new George Fox University single-season record for digs, but the red-hot Willamette University Bearcats took a 3-2 win (25-16, 23-25, 19-25, 25-10, 15-10) over the Bruins in their Northwest Conference women's volleyball finale Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

Wilson finished the season with 560 digs in 93 sets for a 6.02 per-set average, breaking the previous George Fox mark of 5.88 by Patti Reeves in 2010.  Her total is the second-highest total in one season in George Fox history, and she completed her four-year career with 1,483 digs, the fifth-highest total ever for a Bruin.

George Fox ended the season with a 12-12 overall record and tied for fifth in the conference with Pacific University at 7-9.  Willamette, which upset the 18th-ranked University of Puget Sound in straight sets Friday and won seven of its last nine games, wound up fourth with an 8-8 conference slate and a 12-13 mark overall.

The Bruins took a quick lead to open the match on kills by Karlee Jo Sampson and Erin Campbell, but the Bearcats got three kills from Sarah Fincher and one from Shannon Waltz in a 6-1 run that gave them a 6-3 lead.  The visitors continued to pull away by hitting .406 (15-2-32) in the set.  The final score was the largest margin and came on a Bruin attack error.

The second set was a nip-and-tuck affair with 13 ties and seven lead changes, with no lead ever more than three points.  Both teams hit .311, the Bruins 19-5-45 and the Bearcats 18-4-45.  The Bruins broke a 20-20 tie with three straight points on a kill by Jessica Malchow and consecutive combo blocks by Malchow and Erin Sprowls, but the 'Cats tied it with a winner by Lindsey Compton and two by Waltz.  The home team prevailed, however, on a kill by Campbell, her eighth of the set, and a ball-handling error by the Bearcats.

The third set was the only bad hitting one for the Bearcats as they managed only a .078 mark to .263 for the Bruins.  This one was also close until the Bruins pulled away late.  Knotted at 13-13, a kill by Sampson broke the deadlock and gave the Bruins the lead for good.  The margin hit five at 23-18 on a Sprowls spike, and a kill by Tiffany Burk and a Bearcat hitting error gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead in sets.

Set four was all Willamette as the 'Cats hit .304 while limiting the Bruins to a minus -.129 percentage.  A Campbell kill and a block by Malchow and Payton Shrum gave the Bruins an early lead, but the Bearcats got a kill and two service aces from Fincher in an 8-0 run that gave them total control, and the Bruins got no closer than four points the rest of the way.  The Willamette lead hit double figures at 20-10 on a Fincher winner, part of a 9-0 run to close the set by the Bearcats.  Emily Compton served three aces in the closing rush.

In the deciding stanza, George Fox led only once, at 2-1 on a kill by Sprowls.  Kills by Fincher and Waltz bracketed a 4-0 run that put the Bearcats ahead for good at 5-2, and the lead gradually grew until back-to-back kills Waltz and Lindsey Compton ended it.  Willamette hit .471 in the finale.

Campbell had 19 kills while Sampson and Burk added 12 each for the Bruins.  Shrum handed out 46 assists.  Wilson led all defenders with 30 digs, while Malchow contributed five blocks, and Burk and Sprowls were in on four blocks each.

Fincher had 21 kills and a .381 hitting percentage while Waltz pounded 20 kills with a .514 mark.  Lindsey Compton chipped in with 14 kills, and Emily Compton contributed 63 assists.  Lizzy Balding made 20 digs, Lindsey Compton 14, Fincher and Emily Compton 11 each, and Kirsten Brehmer 10.  Carly Hargrave was in on four blocks.

The Bruins honored their two graduating seniors, Wilson and Chelsea Brustad, in pre-game ceremonies.