NEWBERG, Ore. -- Whitworth held on to first place in the Northwest Conference volleyball standings by rallying from two sets down to win at George Fox on Friday night. The Pirates and Ka'ipo Rocha set single-match blocking records in the 18-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-13 victory.

Whitworth (13-5 overall, 8-1 NWC) avoided a second straight upset loss. The Pirates fell at Lewis & Clark last Friday night. George Fox is now 7-11, 2-7.

Whitworth posted 19.0 team blocks and Ka'ipo Rocha was in on 13 of those to set the school records. Kaimi Rocha had 17 kills and Amanda Grumbach added 15 kills to lead Whitworth. Both also had a match-high 20 digs.

The Bruins never trailed in either the first or second sets to jump out to a two-sets-to-none lead on the Pirates. But Whitworth might have gained the momentum it needed to pull off the comeback in that second set. The Pirates trailed 14-5 and 17-9 before rallying to within 23-20 late in the set.

Whitworth led 5-0 in the third set before George Fox fought back to take a 6-5 lead. The set was tied 12-12 when the Bucs went on a 7-2 run to take control.

The fourth set played out in similar fashion as Whitworth took a 5-1 lead before George Fox stormed back to take a 9-8 advantage. The set was tied 17-17 before the Pirates closed out the set with an 8-3 run.

The Pirates appeared to have the fifth and deciding set well in hand after taking leads of 9-4 and 13-8. But the Bruins rallied to within 14-13 before Grumbach closed out the match with her final kill.

Whitworth was held to a team hitting percentage of .084. Bree Riddle had 40 assists.

Stephanie Kerr led George Fox with 13 kills. Pattie Reeves and Makenzie Teigan had 18 digs each and Teigan added 38 assists.

Whitworth will continue its Oregon road trip with a match at Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday night at 5:00 p.m.

Whitworth will return to Oregon next weekend to take on Pacific (Ore.) and George Fox.