The Pioneer volleyball team came back from down two sets to defeat the George Fox Bruins 20-25, 17-25, 25-12, 25-23, 15-9 Saturday night in Newberg. Katherine Fiedler had 15 kills for the Pioneers.

In dominating the first two sets, the Bruins out-hit the Pios .253 to .065.  The two completely reversed roles in the final three sets, however, as Lewis & Clark hit .304 to only .097 for George Fox.  Both teams were on their game defensively, though, as could be expected from
the top two blocking teams in the league - the Bruins, ranked 27th nationally, had 15 blocks in the match and the Pioneers, ranked 20th nationally, had 12.

Set one was tight throughout with seven ties, the last at 16-16, and neither team taking more than a three-point lead until then.  A Pioneer attack error broke the last tie, and the Bruins reeled off four more points on two kills by Stephanie Kerr, one by Sarah Crossfield, and a combo block by the same two for a 21-16 lead.  The Bruins closed out the set on a spike by Jessica Morrison.

In set two, the Bruins took the lead for good 6-5 on a kill by Lyndsay Hovee, but could not pull away until later in the set.  Leading by only three at 18-15, the Bruins took control with four unanswered points on kills by Hovee and Crossfield, a block by Kerr and Jennifer Panico, and a Pioneer attack error, and concluded the set with winners by Panico and
Natalie Pickett.

Lewis & Clark never trailed in set three, scoring the first two points and quickly building up a 10-3 lead, capped by a Margaret Dowling (freshman, Burlingame, Calif.) service ace.  A 7-0 run featuring two kills by Sarah Hall (junior, Vancouver, Wash.), one each by
Dowling and Kelsey Clark (senior, Eagle Creek, Ore.), and a pair of blocks enabled the Pios to take a 23-10 advantage, and a kill by Katherine Fiedler (sophomore, San Diego, Calif.) ended the set.
 
Set four was another nailbiter as there were five ties and neither team had more than a four-point lead at any time.  A Fielder kill, a Bruin attack error, and a block by Clark and Jessamy Holland (junior, Honolulu, Hawaii) enabled the Pios to take the lead for good at 21-19, and the teams traded single points thereafter until Dowling settled matters and evened the match with a set-clinching kill.

The Pios took immediate control of the deciding fifth set with a 5-0 run that put them up 6-1.  A kill by Pickett and a block by Morrison and Kerr brought the Bruins within three at 6-3, but that was as close as they would get.  Up 13-9, the Pios completed the comeback with
back-to-back winners by Clark and Hall.
 
Fiedler led all hitters with 15 kills for the Pioneers, while Dowling and Clark added 13 each, and Hall had 12 with a .400 hitting percentage.  Melody Kayser (senior, Eugene, Ore.) passed out 26 assists and Andrea Chase (senior, Santa Rosa, Calif.) had 23.  Lou Ohki (sophomore, Winton, Ore.) had a match-high 20 digs and Hall made 14. Clark and Fielder contributed six blocks assists each and Holland had five.

The victory was the tenth Conference win of the season for the Pioneers. With Whitman upsetting Puget Sound Saturday night, the Pioneers and UPS now hold identical 10-4 marks in Conference play and are tied for second place, two games behind Pacific Lutheran with a pair of matches remaining in the regular season.

The Pioneers will play those final two matches on their home court next weekend, hosting Pacific Friday night and then closing out the regular season Saturday, November 8 with a match against Puget Sound.

LISTEN to a replay of the game  (download the wma file to your computer and then listen using Windows Media Player)

Portions of story contributed by George Fox Sports Information.