THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – With Steve Grant coaching his 1,000th career game, the George Fox University Bruins split two matches in the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational women's volleyball tournament Friday here at California Lutheran University, defeating the University of La Verne 3-0 before bowing to the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges 3-0.

Grant, now in his 32nd year with the volleyball program, has a career record of 589-411.  He is 14th among active NCAA Division III coaches in victories, and 22nd among all-time D-III coaches.

Game 1 – George Fox 3, La Verne 0 (25-23, 25-21, 26-24)

Rookie Karlee Jo Sampson hammered home 17 kills to lead the Bruins to victory in a closely-contested match against the Leopards, who played in the NCAA National Tournament last year and were the top vote-getter among “others receiving votes” in the American Volleyball Coaches Association pre-season poll this season.

Erin Campbell added nine kills and Tiffany Burk eight as the Bruins hit .214 for the match, including .229 and .289 in the first two sets, to improve to 3-1.  Setters Payton Shrum and Chelsea Brustad handed out 18 and 17 assists respectively.  On defense, Chelsea Wilson picked up 20 digs, including 11 in the second set.

La Verne, which hit .241 in the match, was led by Ashlyn Cross with 12 kills and nine digs.  Morgan Donahue passed out 28 assists as the Leopards fell to 1-4 on the season.

Game 2 – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3, George Fox 0 (25-17, 25,15, 25-14)

In Coach Grant's 1,000th game, the Bruins were unable to slow down the rampaging Athenas, who improved to 5-0 on the season.  George Fox slipped to 3-2.

The Bruins were led offensively by Sampson and Campbell, who posted seven k ills apiece, but a stout Claremont defense held them to a .133 hitting percentage.  Shrum had 17 assists, and Wilson made 14 digs.

The Athenas, who hit .367 for the match, got 15 kills from Nicole Kerkhof and 13 from Audrey Breitwieser, and 39 assists from Hilary Bruegl.  Megan Coleman paced the defense with 19 digs.

Fans wishing to follow the entire tournament may do so at Cal Lutheran's official website at website at http://www.clusports.com/pages/tournaments/2013vbPosadaRoyaleInvitational.php.

NEXT: George Fox takes on Occidental College ast 4:00 p.m. and the University of Redlands at 6:00 p.m. Saturday to conclude play in the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational.