NEWBERG, Ore. --- The George Fox women's volleyball team picked up its first victory of the 2021 spring season on Thursday, Mar. 18, with a 3-2 win over Willamette.

How It Happened

The Bruins were able to eke out a seven-point win in the opening stanza, 25-18, and led by eight for most of the first set. A sneaky quick-hitter from setter Laney Search finished it off and gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the match. The Bearcats won the next two sets by identical scores of 25-23 to notch a 2-1 advantage, but the Bruins didn't back down.

The fourth stanza was a return to their first-set form as the Bruins cruised to a 25-17 win on the strength of a .421 attack rate - their best of the night.

The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead in the final frame before the Bruins battled back to tie it up at 10-10. The two sides battled it out and passed the 15-15 mark until a well-placed hit from Kassandra Staton and a wall built by Taylor Dekoning and Ashtyn Butler gave the Bruins the last two points for a 19-17 match-clincher.

Top Performers

The middle of the Bruins' front line led the way tonight as Butler combined with Bailey LeBreton for 35 of the team's 71 kills and eight blocks. Both players set new single-match career bests in kills tonight.

Dekoning (13) and Liv Alexander (10) also joined the party with double-digit kills, while Sophia Lawrence and Search each tallied 25+ digs on the night. 

Search set new career-highs in assists (57) and digs (25), beating both her previous personal bests by wide margins in each category.

Their Thoughts

"We had some young players really step up to the plate tonight," head coach Emily Davis said afterwards. "It was an unfortunately inconsistent match but I'm glad we were able to finish it with a win."

What It Means

The Bruins improve to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in NWC play, while the Bearcats drop to 0-4 both overall and in conference matchups.

What Happens Next

The teams will play again tomorrow in the second leg of a home-and-away weekend series in Salem at 7:00 pm.