GEORGETOWN, Texas -- The George Fox volleyball team opened its season at No.18 Southwestern (Texas) as part of the Pirates' season-opening tournament and fell in three sets to the tourney host, 25-17, 25-13, 25-20.

How It Happened

Fox started the first set of the season in an early hole and coach Emily Davis was able to stabilize her rotation by the middle of the set, tying the opening stanza at 13-13, but the Pirates were able to answer back and pulled away for good with two quick scoring runs to ice the opening set, 25-17.

The second set was close to start as well, but the Pirates found their rhythm again as Fox struggled to get into one of its own and won handily, 25-13.

The Bruins made good adjustments and played their best set of the night in the closer, but the momentum favored the hosting Pirates and Fox was unable to stretch the match to a fourth set.

The Pirates were able to keep the Bruins' offense off-balance and out of system after winning the battle at the service line - as a team, Southwestern served up five aces to the Bruins' two.

The battle at the net also went to the top-ranked Pirates more often than not as the Bruins' hitters went into the block 12 times for attack errors.

Top Performers

Bailey LeBreton led the team in kills (8) and blocks (4) while Kennedy Kibby quarterbacked the offense with a team-high 15 assists. Piper Harrop led all players with 14 digs, and Kassandra Staton was involved all night long with a well-rounded line of seven kills, nine digs, and two blocks.

What It Means

Fox starts the year 0-1 but has seen a tough team early on in the season to set a tone for the rest of the year.

Up Next

The Bruins play two matches tomorrow against (RV) UT-Dallas and Concordia-Texas.