By Seth Preuss

SALEM --- George Fox women's volleyball wrapped up its weekend road trip with a match against Willamette. The Bruins took two sets to force a fifth, but ran out of gas in the final frame in a 3-2 loss at the Bearcats' home arena.

Recap

The Bearcats leapt out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set and used the early momentum to cruise to a 25-18 win. The Bruins were able to fight back and tie the match with a 25-17 win in set two, flipping the script in the process to guarantee four sets would be needed.

The Bearcats answered back with a 25-18 win in set three to reclaim the lead, but the Bruins responded in kind with another 25-18 final to tie the match at 2-2. The Bruins got great performances in the early stages of the fourth set, taking a massive 21-9 lead and coasting to the win.

The fifth set was competitive early as the teams traded side outs, but Willamette wrested control back from the Bruins and never looked back after taking the lead for good on the fifth point of the set. The Bruins did their best to get back into the match but fell 15-9 in the fifth to end the night.

Top Performers

Paige O'Rear had a career night with 18 kills for the Bruins to lead all players in the match. Danyle Dupray led all players with a career-high 29 digs, Laney Search dished 21 assists, and Aryah Marlow matched Ashtyn Butler with four blocks each to lead the Bruins.

What It Means

The Bruins are now 1-7 against Northwest Conference opponents and are two matches below .500 at 7-9 as they ready for the second half of the NWC slate for 2018.

What Happens Next

The Bruins play host to Pacific (Ore.) on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 7:00 pm.