WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Senior Night at the Sherwood Athletics Center ended with a proper send-off for Whitman College seniors Megan Bafus and Franny Gardner as the pair helped the host Missionaries to a 3-1 Northwest Conference volleyball victory over visiting Willamette University Saturday night, taking down the Bearcats by counts of 25-21, 25-13, 27-29 and 25-21.

The victory over the Bearcats (11-12, 6-8 NWC) improves Whitman's overall mark to 9-14 and its conference record to 5-9.

Bafus registered a match-high 16 kills which also was a career best, exceeding by one her previous high recorded in a win over Willamette during the 2013 season. Gardner, recently pressed into duty as a middle blocker due to injuries sustained by teammates, finished the night with a career-high seven block assists -- Saturday's blocking high for either team -- to go along with four kills, a service ace and a pair of digs.

The pivotal point in the match Saturday came midway through the fourth and deciding game. Whitman, frustrated much of the season by an inability to put opponents away in the third or fourth games, carried a 2-1 games lead into the fourth after sweeping the first two games from the Bearcats.

The Missionaries fell into a three-point deficit early but clawed back to a 7-7 tie beginning with a kill from setter Anna Dawson. Soon after the score was knotted at 10-10 but a 5-0 run from Whitman -- fueled in part by a pair of Bafus kills -- provided a lead Whitman would cling to the remainder of the game. Willamette battled back to within a point at 19-18 but the Missionaries turned back the Bearcats over the final points ending, fittingly, with a Bafus kill to close out the match.

Whitman nearly pulled out the sweep in Game 3, climbing back from a five-point deficit at 21-16 to eventually inch within match point at 25-24. The two teams traded points until tied at 27-27 before Willamette sneaked away with the 29-27 win to prevent getting swept by a team it had downed 3-1 back on Oct. 4. Game 3 saw 12 ties and eight lead changes before the Bearcats finished it off.

In building a 2-0 lead over the first two games Whitman used a potent attack that registered a .235 attack percentage in the opener and then improved to .281 in the Game 2 win in which it never trailed.

Second only to Bafus on the attack was teammate Abby Seethoff who tied her season-high of 13 kills with Saturday night's performance. She also chimed in with 15 digs, two block assists and a service ace. Shae Kanakaole also reached double-digits in kills with 10 for Whitman.

Dawson set up the attack, with a match-high 48 assists, but also added to the attack with a career-best nine kills, tripling her previous best of three which she has achieved three times during her first year with the program.

On the defensive Hannah Linsenmayer came up with a match-best 26 digs, second-most for her season and only two shy of her season high. At the net Whitman came away with 12.0 blocks led by Gardner's seven, and Dawson's and Bafus' five block assists.,

Willamette's attack was paced by Alexa Dowdell and Taylor Lum who each provided 12 kills. Lindsey Compton set up the attack with 35 assists.

The regular season finishes on the road for Bafus, Gardner and the Missionaries as they head first to Lewis & Clark College on Friday, Nov. 7 followed by the season finale at George Fox University the next day.