NEWBERG, Ore. – Playing extra points in the fifth set for the second day in a row, the George Fox University Bruins won the last two points to capture their first Northwest Conference women's volleyball win of the season 3-2 over the Whitman College Missionaries Saturday evening here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

With their 25-27, 25-15, 25-20, 16-25, 16-14 victory, the Bruins evened their overall record at 6-6 and moved to 1-3 in the NWC.  They were also able to purge a bit of the bitter aftertaste of Friday's 3-2 loss to Whitworth University that included a record-setting 22-20 setback in the fifth set.  Whitman, which had won its first three NWC games after a 2-11 start against a brutally-tough non-conference schedule, fell to 5-12 overall and 3-1 in league play.

The Bruins might have been able to win the match without the last-set dramatics if they had been able to hang onto a big first-set lead.  After jumping in front 4-0, the Bruins extended the margin to 11-2 with a 6-0 run that featured a pair of kills by Karlee Jo Sampson.  Jillian Davis, who had seven kills in eight attempts in the set, hit a winner to spark a 5-0 Whitman run that got the Missionaries back in the game at 16-13, and they eventually tied it 23-23 on another Davis winner. George Fox twice saved set points with kills by Erin Sprowls and Sampson, but the Missionaries completed the comeback with final spikes by Megan Bafus and Shae Kanakaole.

George Fox dominated the next two sets, hitting .242 and .281 in back-to-back stanzas while limiting Whitman to .028 and .062 hitting percentages.  With the second set knotted at 14-14, Tiffany Burk ignited an 11-1 closing rush by the Bruins with a kill, and added two more winners in the outburst before Erin Campbell put one down to finish the win.

The Bruins broke a 4-4 tie in the third set with another winner by Burk and led the rest of the way, gradually extending their lead with several short bursts.  Their largest lead was six at 16-10 and 18-12, the last following a block by Burk and Sprowls.  The Missionaries got within three at 21-18 on a service ace by Taylor Aschenbrenner, but Campbell slowed the comeback with a kill and the Bruins closed it out with a slam by Sprowls.

The fourth set was back-and-forth with ten ties, the last at 14-14.  The Missionaries pulled away with an 11-2 explosion that featured seven kills by Kanakaole, who finished with an incredible 12 winners in 19 attempts in the set.  Whitman put down 19 winners in the set to only six by George Fox, the Missionaries hitting .282 to .033 for the Bruins.

Both teams were on their game offensively in the finale, George Fox hitting .286 and Whitman .316, with neither team holding more than a two-point lead.  The Bruins were in a position to win when a Whitman attack error gave them a 14-13 lead, but Bafus saved the visitors with a kill to knot it 14-14.  Campbell's kill gave the Bruins a 15-14 lead, and setter Payton Shrum blocked a final attempt by Kanakaole to give the home team the hard-fought victory.

Campbell and Sampson led the Bruins with 17 kills apiece, Campbell hitting .368 with only three errors in 38 attempts, and Burk added 12 winners.  Shrum dished out 45 assists.  On defense, Chelsea Wilson made 18 digs, Campbell 12, and Shrum and Kelsea Meyers 11 each.  George Fox had nine blocks to three for Whitman, with Burk contributing five block assists.

The Missionaries got 19 kills from Kanakaole, 17 from Davis, and 10 from Bafus, with Rachel Cline handing out 36 assists and Aschenbrenner 10.  Hannah Linsenmayer had 25 assists, Davis 17, and Kanakaole 12. 

NEXT: George Fox hosts Linfield College and Whitman hosts nationally-ranked Pacific Lutheran University Friday, both conference matches at 7:00 p.m.