FOREST GROVE, Ore. – In a matchup of two of the top hitters in the Northwest Conference, George Fox University's Erin Campbell won the battle but Marie Rewick and the Pacific University Boxers won the war, taking a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 25-18) win over the visiting Bruins Wednesday night here at the Stoller Center in the NWC opener for both teams.

Campbell entered the game averaging 3.29 kills per set, fifth in the conference, while Rewick had 4.15 kills per set to stand first in the NWC and 22nd nationally.  Campbell tied her career high with 22 winners and made only four errors in 54 attempts, a .333 hitting percentage, but was the only Bruin in double figures on offense.  Rewick had 20 kills and 10 errors in 71 attempts for a .141 mark, but got additional help from Una Areta's 16 kills that put the Boxers over the top.

In the first set, George Fox jumped out to an early 7-2 lead on three kills by Campbell, who had seven winner in the set, but could not put the Boxers away.  Areta kept the Boxers close with five in the stanza.  The Bruins built a 20-17 lead on a kill by Tiffany Burk, but the Boxers rallied for an 8-2 spurt to close out the set, half the points on kills by Rewick.

It was the Boxers' turn to jump in front quickly in the second set as they took a 5-1 lead on a Rewick kill and four Bruin offensive miscues, but a winner by Burk, two by Karlee Jo Sampson, and a Pacific attack error evened the score 5-5. Five straight points, including two kills by Campbell and one by Emily Carlson, gave the Bruins a 12-9 lead, and they stayed in front the rest of the way, thought the Boxers four times closed within one.  Holding a slim 22-21 edge, the Bruins scored the last three points on libero Chelsea Wilson's first kill of the year and two spikes by Sampson.

Campbell had two kills as the Bruins scored the first three points of the third set, but the Boxers answered with a 15-4 run, the last seven in a row, to take control.  The Bruins got no closer than seven points the rest of the way as they struggled to a .105 hitting percentage while the Boxers hit .279.

The fourth set saw six early ties and no lead larger than two points until the Boxers went on a 4-0 run to take a 14-11 lead.  Pacific never trailed again, extending its lead to 24-16 on a two service aces by Jamie Steach and securing the match on a combo block by Areta and Mariah McHolland.  The Boxers hit only .091 in the final set, but the Bruins were again off with a .023 mark.

Burk was second on the Bruins with eight kills and Sampson had seven.  Payton Shrum passed out 26 assists.  Defensively, Wilson, the conference leader in digs per set, had 22 digs, and Campbell added 16.  Emily Rawlings had two block assists.

Emily Farnham contributed 44 assists to the Boxers.  Becky Sheller led the home team on defense with 25 digs, while Kami Kugler added 12 and Farnham 10.  McHolland had one solo block and four block assists as the Boxers totaled seven in all.

NEXT: George Fox (5-4, NWC 0-1) visits the 15th-ranked University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. contest … Pacific (2-6, NWC 1-1) goes to Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, Wash., Friday, also at 7:00 p.m.