NEWBERG, Ore. – The Whitman College women's volleyball team rallied from two sets down and had the match on its racket, but George Fox held on for a 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 12-25, 15-13 Northwest Conference win Saturday night at Wheeler Sports Center.
The Blues (10-10, 8-6 NWC) still go into the final weekend of the regular season one game ahead of Willamette for the fourth and final spot in the NWC Tournament. Securing the spot will be no small feat as Whitman will close the season against Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran who currently sit at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the conference standings.
Libero Lexie Uchima led the comeback from the service line with seven aces. She also had 21 digs and passed at a .972 clip on 35 serve receptions.
Arina Gushchina led Whitman with 13.5 points on 11 kills, 13 digs and a block assist. Rowyn Lee had nine kills on .364 hitting and four block assists for 11 points. Nadia Shepherd added nine kills on .292 hitting in four sets. Sammy Holmer filled the stat sheet with seven kills, two aces, 10 digs and 27 serve receptions.
Haylee Pruse ran the offense with 21 assists and 13 digs. Moana Massey added 14 assists and seven digs. Bella Vickers came off the bench for four kills and three blocks, including a solo stuff.
Whitman out-aced George Fox 13-6, out-blocked the Bruins 8-6 and hit slightly better, .169 to .165. George Fox made up for it with 65 kills to Whitman's 47 and got 17 kills and 18.5 points from Eden Cha.
The Blues fought back in the opening set. They trailed 8-2 and then took a 20-18 lead, sparked by back-to-back aces from Uchima. But George Fox closed on a 7-1 run to take the set 25-21. The Bruins pulled away in the second set with a 6-0 run that made it 12-6 and won 25-19.
The third set turned into a tug-of-war, with 10 ties and three lead changes. With the score tied 21-21, Whitman scored three straight points to go up 24-21. Shepherd ended it with her sixth kill of the set, and the Blues took it 25-23.
Whitman controlled the fourth set from start to finish. Two straight Uchima aces made it 6-2, and the Blues won every point they received serve on, siding out 12-of-12. George Fox hit -.108 in the set with 12 attack errors. Vickers finished the 25-12 rout with a kill.
The Bruins jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the fifth set, but the Blues kept coming back. A 7-3 run cut the deficit to 11-10, capped by a Lee and Vickers block. Lee and Gushchina teamed up for another stuff that made it 13-12, and a George Fox attack error pulled Whitman within 14-13. Gracie Bearden then ended it with a kill.
#GoWhitman
