Bearcats Fall to Bruins of George Fox in Straight Sets

By Mark Colachico, Contributing Writer

NEWBERG, Ore. – The Willamette University women's volleyball team was held to a .010 hitting percentage against the Bruins of George Fox University on Saturday evening Oct. 17, as the Bearcats fell in straight sets, 25-10, 25-18, 25-19, at Miller Gymnasium inside the Wheeler Sports Center. Third-year Willamette Head Coach Lily Hallock was going for career win No. 100, but came up short as Willamette fell to 6-8 overall and to 5-3 in Northwest Conference play. George Fox, on the other hand, improved to 8-7 on the season and to 5-3 in NWC contests.

Olivia Cadien (OH, So., Mesa, AZ/Chandler Prepatory Academy) led Willamette with a match-high-tying 10 kills and added eight digs, while Emma Porter (S, Sr., Honolulu, HI/Mid-Pacific Institute) added four kills, a match-high 21 assists, a match-high tying two services aces, and seven digs. Dani Queja (OH, Sr., Ewa Beach, HI/Maryknoll School) provided five kills to go along with seven digs, while Shyla Sato (Lib., Sr., Honolulu, HI/Mid-Pacific Institute) led all Bearcats with nine digs.

In the opening set, both teams would battle back and forth over the opening four combined points until George Fox used a 9-0 run that broke a 2-2 tie propelling the host Bruins to an early 11-2 lead. After George Fox built a 17-4 lead, Willamette put together a quick 3-0 run that was bookended by kills from Cadien and Lexi Martin (MB/OPP, Sr., Bellevue, WA/Interlake HS) to pull the Bearcats within 10 points at 17-7. Unfortunately, that would be as close as Willamette would get as George Fox used a set-ending 8-3 run for a 25-10 victory.

Set #2 would start with George Fox pulling ahead by four points (9-5) before the host Bruins used a 5-0 run to pull ahead 14-5. Willamette continued to battle though, as the Bearcats used a late 5-0 run to pull within four points (22-18) that included three kills by Cadien and service ace from Porter. That would be as close as Willamette would get, as George Fox closed out the middle set on a 3-0 run to claim the 25-18 win.

The third and final set began with George Fox jumping out to a 4-1 lead before Willamette used a 9-7 run to get within a single point at 11-10 on another Porter service ace. The host Bruins immediately put together a 6-0 run to pull in front by a 17-10 score. The Bearcats got within two points, 19-17, following back-to-back attack errors by George Fox. The host Bruins quickly turned things around, ending the night on a 6-2 run to earn a 25-19 win in the set and claim the overall victory.

Addison Robertson tied Cadien, registering a team and match-high 10 kills for George Fox, as Kassandra Staton and Bailey Lebreton added nine and eight kills, respectively. Kennedy Kibby led the Bruins with 20 assists, while Kaitlyn Johnson anchored George Fox's defense with a match-high 10 digs.

As a team, Willamette registered 27 kills to go along with 26 hitting errors (.010 attack percentage). The Bearcats recorded more total attacks than George Fox, 104-88. 

Willamette returns to action on Friday, Oct. 14, against the Wildcats of Linfield University starting at 7 p.m. (PDT) inside Cone Field House.