NEWBERG, ORE. – Whitworth volleyball opened its final road trip of the season with a 3-0 sweep of George Fox in a Northwest Conference match on Friday afternoon at Wheeler Sports Complex.
The Pirates (18-2 overall, 12-1 NWC) hit .262 as a team and had just eight attack errors en route to a 25-20, 25-14, 25-18 win, their 12th straight. The Bruins fell to 5-15, 3-10 NWC.
Whitworth took a 9-4 lead in the first set on a kill from Alyssa Baird. GFU responded with a run that brought them to within one at 12-11 following a service ace. At 16-13, the Bucs took control with a 9-2 run of their own capped by an ace from Olivia Paul. GFU scored five unanswered points before Baird finished it off with her fourth kill of the set.
The first point of the second set was George Fox's only lead of the match. It turned out to be Whitworth's most dominant set of the match as Whitworth held the Bruins to a 0.036 hitting percentage while hitting .273 themselves. Kaylee Winterroth's kill gave the Bucs a 7-2 advantage and Lindsey Short later pushed the lead to 18-12. The Pirates finished much better, taking advantage of four GFU attack errors and two bad sets to end the set on a 7-0 run.
The Bucs again jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the third set on another Winterroth kill. The Bruins got within three at 11-8 on an attack error, but no closer. Whitworth hit .313 in its most efficient frame of the afternoon. Short led with four kills in the final set.
Baird led the Bucs with 10 kills (.233) and Short added seven (.438). Whitworth had 8.0 total blocks, led by Short and Winterroth with five block assists apiece. Dodson served four of the teams' 11 service aces. Sophie Fox tallied a team-high 14 assists and nine digs.
Audrey Schmitt and Addison Goff led GFU with seven kills each.
Whitworth will look to extend its winning streak at Willamette on Saturday night.
