The Pioneer volleyball team celebrated homecoming with a 30-28, 30-17, 20-30, 30-20 road victory at George Fox Saturday night. Katherine Fielder had 18 kills with five blocks for the Pioneers.

A kill by Sara Kettler (senior, Dana Point, Calif.) and three Bruin attack errors enabled the Pioneers to open game one with a 4-0 lead before the Bruins battled back, finally tying the game at 11-11 on a kill by Anderson. The game was close the rest of the way, with four more ties and neither team taking more than a four-point lead. Down 29-25, the Bruins rallied behind a kill by Anderson, a block by Anderson and Amy Batchelder, and a kill by Whitney Kolb, before Kettler ended the suspense with another putaway.

The Pios hit. 361 in game two, jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, and were never seriously threatened again. Three times the Pioneers led by as much as 13 points, the last at game's end on another winning kill by Kettler.

The Bruins responded with some strong defense in game three, holding the visitors to an .058 hitting percentage. The Bruins got a side out on a kill by Jennifer Panico and then Carli Bowman served seven winning points in a row, with Panico contributing four more kills, as the Bruins built up a 16-6 lead. The Pioneerss did close within five at 22-17 on a kill by Kettler, but the Bruins again pulled away and sealed the deal on a spike by Jessica Morrison.

The Pioneers made sure there would be no Bruin comeback, however, by hitting .325 while holding the Bruins to an .055 mark in game four. An 11-4 run enabled Lewis & Clark to move from a slim 7-6 lead to a more comfortable 18-10 margin, and the teams virtually traded points from there until the end, which came on a Kelsey Neussl (junior, Juneau, Alaska) kill.

Katherine Fiedler (freshman, San Diego, Calif.) hit .424 with 18 kills and five blocks. Kettler .458 with 11 kills and no errors, and Nicki Smith (senior, Brea, Calif.) added 13 kills for the Pioneers. Lara Smith (senior, Vashon Island, Wash.) and Andrea Chase (junior, Santa Rosa, Calif.) had 28 assists apiece.

George Fox dipped below .500 for the first time all season as they fell to 9-10 overall and 4-8 in the conference. Lewis & Clark, avenging an earlier five-game loss at home to the Bruins, improved to 7-15 overall and 3-9 in the league.

The Pioneers play their final home match of the season next Friday night when they host the Linfield Wildcats at 7pm at the Pamplin Sports Center.

(contributed by George Fox Sports Information)