NEWBERG, Ore. -- The George Fox women's volleyball team was defeated in a 3-1 game against Whitworth in a game that featured a strong second period in a losing effort.

How It Happened
Fox had a strong kill in the opening moments of the game, with Jenna Knibbs taking the first point, but from there the Pirates tied up the score and climbed ahead. Lexi Baer and Hannah Huffman each had a kill as the teams traded points, with Gracie Bearden's kill cutting the Pirate lead to 7-8.

The Bruins started losing steam as the gap between points got larger—Bearden had another solid kill (15-18), and Baer had one (18-21), but Whitworth scored four straight to close the first set, 18-25.

The second period started similarly as the first, with Allaire Gilder making a nice kill for the Bruins. The two teams went back and forth again, with Fox staying in front for the opening stages of the set before Whitworth managed to catch up and tie the score, keeping the game interesting. 

Baer and Bearden made all their efforts to keep the leading position by at least one point—Bear with a kill at 13-12, and Bearden at 13-14, but the Pirates were not backing down, meeting to their level. Towards the end of the set, the Bruins broke ahead, as Baer made a defining kill at 19-17 — and from that point on, Baer and Bearden pulled out several more kills to win—winning on an attack error by Whitworth, 25-21.

The third set saw five lead changes before either team reached 10 points. The Bruins took advantage of several Pirate attack errors in the early stages, but lost steam as Whitworth honed in on their accuracy. Fox stayed at 12 points for what seemed like the whole back half of the set, as Whitworth scored 16 of the final 19 points of the third to win, 25-13.

Fox had a hard time coming back in the last set, letting Whitworth take control early. Bearden had the first kill of the period to cut into an early Bucs lead, with Huffman and Hahn each adding a strong kill to cut the gap to 5-7. 

Although Whitworth flew ahead in the middle moments, Huffman totaled another kill while Baer notched two more. However, as had been the case all day, the Pirates controlled the final points of the set; and 8-2 run that saw the only Bruin points come off of service errors was the final blow for Fox, as the Pirates won the fourth set, 25-15, to take the match, 3-1.

Top Performances
Gracie Bearden and Lexi Baer both had solid performances today despite the loss with 12 kills and nine digs total for Bearden, while Baer had 11 kills for the night. Jenna Knibbs totaled six kills and ten digs. Freshman Hannah Huffman totaled four kills and three digs—the most kills she's achieved in her career far. Mikaila Kronholm led the team with 16 assists.

What It Means
GFU falls to 4-8 (1-5 NWC), while Whitworth climbs to 12-4 (6-0 NWC), marking their seventh win in a row this season.

What Happens Next
The Bruins will stay in Newberg to play against the Pacific University Boxers (4-6, 1-4 NWC) to start the week on Tuesday, October 7. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 pm.