NEWBERG, Ore. -- The George Fox women's volleyball team was swept at home for the first time in four seasons, dropping a game to Whitman, 3-0.

How It Happened
Fox started out incredibly strong with a 5-1 lead thanks to a Lexi Baer kill. Whitman gained control, slowly but surely, as they eventually tied the score 7-7. Jenna Knibbs and Isabella Avila scored back-to-back points with a kill and an ace to keep the Bruins in front, but the Blues charged back hard.

Whitman eventually passed them up, leaving Fox in the dust — most of Fox's points to close the set were off of Blues attack errors. Hahn and Allaire Gilder scored a kill each, raising their side of the scoreboard, 16-21. Fox made all their efforts to climb back into the game, with Chloe Wiersma turning a free ball into a point and Baer thundering a ball down to cut the score to four (18-22), but Whitman kept the lead as they rose to the top, winning, 25-20.

The Blues made the first point of the second set, but Knibbs tied the score 1-1 with a strong kill. A similar pattern then arose for the teams, as Whitman led the way before Hahn broke into their routine a shot of her own. Again, many of Fox's next points were from Whitman errors, but the Bruins gained a little control again when Baer slapped back two consecutive kills to cut the deficit to 13-11.

Fox fell four points back, but Addison Goff kept them close with a smooth kill, before then Hahn added to the score, 14-18. Baer and Gracie Bearden made a run of three points with the first kill by Baer and the next two by Bearden (21-23), forcing a Whitman timeout. The Blues bounced back after the timeout, though, winning the set, 25-21.

The third set proved to be the final one for the Bruins, whose five service errors doomed them in the loss. Though they fell down early, a masterful Hahn kill, as well as ones from Addison Goff and Bearden, kept the score close at 10-15. That five-point deficit would be the closest the Bruins got, though, as Whitman blew the doors open with a 10-3 run to close the game; the final score of the last period was a 13-25 loss for the Bruins.

Top Performances
Jordan Hahn finished with eight kills, while Lexi Baer totaled seven. Gracie Bearden ended with five kills and ten digs overall. Isabella Avila led the team with 13 digs for the night, while Mikaila Kronholm had 13 assists. Hannah Huffman played in her third career game, providing the Bruins with some spark off of the bench thanks to two block assists. 

What It Means
GFU falls to 4-7 (1-4 NWC), while Whitman climbs to 4-8 (3-2 NWC). 

What Happens Next
The Bruins will stay in Newberg to play against a Whitworth Pirates team (11-4, 5-0 NWC) that is receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll on Saturday, October 4. The game is scheduled to start at 6:00 pm.