Box Score NEWBERG, Ore. -- The first five-set match of the season for the Lewis & Clark Pioneers ended in a 26-24, 18-25, 17-25, 25-13, 16-14 loss to the George Fox Bruins on Friday night at Wheeler Sports Center.
Neither team held a lead bigger than three in the deciding set until George Fox, which entered the match with one Northwest Conference victory, took a 14-11 edge. Lewis & Clark (4-14; 3-8 NWC) rallied back to tie the match by scoring three straight, a stretch that ended with Sam Yorke's set attack that landed in George Fox's court. After a timeout, the Bruins scored the final two points of the match.
"Our conference is so tough and tonight shows how much you have to fight for every point," said Lewis & Clark head coach Stacie Matz-Gordon. "We went up 2-1 and they came back. We have to have the right focus to close out matches like this."
The Pioneers lost two of the first four sets, the first and fourth, after they hit a negative percentage. Meanwhile, George Fox posted its best number, .433, in the fourth set.
Alexe Navarro served for the final three points of the second set in which both teams hit well. Lewis & Clark posted a .286 mark, rebounding from a negative first set, while the Bruins hit .154. Casey Myszkowski, who finished with nine kills, had eight through the second set.
Five kills by Kortney Meyer kept the Pios out in front throughout the third set and Lewis & Clark took its first lead of the match with an eight-point win. Bridgette Henningsen played in her first NWC match of the season and played in the back row during the Pios' best hitting set of the game with a .292 percentage.
Julia Somers ended the night with a match-best 14 kills and picked up her third-straight double-double with 11 digs. Overall, Lewis & Clark had five with double-digit digs, led by Navarro's 18. Annika San Nicolas and Mikayla Lopez totaled 17 apiece and Yorke finished with 12. Lopez and Yorke shared setting duties and finished with 21 and 13 assists, respectively, as well as two aces each.
Danyle Dupray and Delaney Cruz had 12 kills apiece for George Fox (4-15; 2-9 NWC).
Lewis & Clark plays at Pacific on Saturday.
Other Northwest Conference Scores - Friday
Whitworth 3, Linfield 0
Willamette 3, Whitman 2
Puget Sound 3, Pacific 0
