NEWBERG, Ore. -- (From Blair Cash, GFU SID) In a match in which most of the hitters struggled with consistency, Whitworth College’s Natalie Danielson proved to be a constant thorn in the side of the George Fox University Bruins, slamming 26 kills to lead the Pirates to a 3-2 win in the Northwest Conference volleyball opener for both teams Friday night at the Wheeler Sports Center’s Miller Gym.

Setter Rebekah Hornor posted a triple double

Whitworth had to battle back from a game down twice before prevailing over George Fox 16-30, 30-16, 26-30, 31-29, 15-8. The Bruins fell to 4-2 overall while the Pirates improved to 5-2.

Game one was tight through the first half before the Bruins broke away from a slim 11-10 edge with a 10-3 run, sparked by three kills by Whitney Kolb. After the Pirates closed with four at 17-13, the Bruins raced away with a 13-3 run to end the game, hitting .262 while holding Whitworth to an .021 percentage.

Game two was virtually a mirror image of the first one, only Whitworth held the upper hand this time, hitting .303 to a minus-.029 for George Fox. Brittney Bower had four kills in the game and served seven straight winning points at one stretch to boost the Pirates from an 11-7 lead to an insurmountable 18-7 margin.

George Fox took a 19-9 lead in game three on a kill by Kolb, but Danielson responded with six kills over the remainder of the game as the Pirates climbed to within two at 28-26. Kills by Kolb and Amanda Allen secured the win for the Bruins, however.

Neither team held more than a four-point advantage in game four, and there were nine ties. The Bruins, hoping to pull off a stunner, were up 28-26 and serving, but Danielson responded with three kills to bring the Pirates back for the two-point match-tying win.

The Pirates finally asserted themselves in game five, breaking a 5-5 tie with a 10-3 run to close out the match. The Bruins contributed six attack errors in that closing span and hit minus-.033 for the game to .316 for the Pirates.

Danielson hit .345 for the match while the Pirates were hitting only .170 as a team, with 67 kills but 34 errors. The Bruins had 57 kills, led by Kolb with 17, but committed 37 errors on offense.

Whitworth setter Rebekah Horner turned in a triple-double, tallying 10 kills, 50 assists, and 18 digs, and was also in on 6 blocks. Whitney Murphy and Holly Coleman had 19 digs each, Taryn Smith dug 17, and Bower had 10.

Kolb was the only Bruin in double digits in kills, but Elizabeth Anderson, Linzi Stolsig, and Amanda Allen had 9 each. Amy Knight passed out 50 assists and made 13 digs. Haley Stapleton led all defenders with 23 digs, Stolsig made 18, and Michol Roberts dug 10. Anderson helped out with 6 blocks.