NEWBERG, Ore.  It wasn't as easy as the last time the teams met, but the results were the same Saturday as visiting Whitman swept host George Fox University by scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-22 in Northwest Conference volleyball action at the Bruins' Wheeler Sports Center.

In mid-September Whitman (9-9, 6-4 NWC) raced past then-visiting Fox (3-14, 1-9) in a three-set match that saw a total of four lead changes.

Saturday at Wheeler there were four lead changes before either team reached 10 points in the first set. And the back-and-forth didn't end there as Whitman and the Bruins exchanged the lead seven more times in a game-one that also saw 14 ties.

The final lead change of the opener came late, soon after Whitman trailed 21-19.

Natalia Zea and Anna Dawson recorded a block to initiate a 6-2 run to close out the game and extend Whitman's set victory string over Fox to four in a row.

Whitman never trailed in the second game but had to break free from a 23-23 tie to capture the set. A kill from Megan Henry broke the deadlock, one of four in the set, and Codie Conching's service ace closed out the win.

George Fox battled hard in the third set in trying to avoid consecutive sweeps, and led 15-14 to buoy those hopes.

But kills on consecutive points from Dawson followed by a third point on a kill from Miranda Taylor -- set up on a dish from Dawson -- flipped the score one last time and Whitman was able to claw out the final points to make the bus ride home after the match much more enjoyable.

Taylor and Shae Kanakaole led Whitman's attack at the net with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while Zea, Brooke Randall and Taylor put up a blocking wall defensively that allowed Whitman to finish with a 6-4 edge in total blocks for the match.

Eight service aces, including four from Taylor and three by Conching, also contributed to the momentum that led to Whitman's sweep of the Bruins.

A two-week road trip ends with Whitman's next matches as Willamette University and Linfield College visit the Sherwood Athletics Center for conference contests on Friday and Saturday.