NEWBERG, Ore. — The Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team nearly led wire-to-wire on Friday night, steamrolling host George Fox University 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-18) in a Northwest Conference clash inside the Wheeler Sports Center. 
 
The Lutes (8-8, 6-3 NWC) came to Oregon ready to play, surging to an early 6-1 lead in the opening set, getting a pair of aces off the serve of Macy Matsushima. Six straight points swelled the PLU advantage to 22-7 later in the set before a Shaela Allen-Greggs kill gave the visitors the 25-14 set win.
 
It was a similar script in set two, charging out to a 6-1 advantage. PLU kept its foot on the gas the rest of the way with a Julissa Pernsteiner kill cementing a 25-11 set victory.
 
The Bruins (5-11, 2-8 NWC) tallied the opening point of the third set. It proved to be their first and only lead of the night as PLU scored the next five points. The Lute lead ballooned to 23-12 and survived a late George Fox run, prevailing 25-18 for the sweep.
 
"It was great to see us rebound from last week and play a solid match," said Head Coach Kevin Aoki.
 
"We're looking forward to continuing that momentum from tonight when we play Lewis & Clark tomorrow afternoon."
 
Pernsteiner led the Lutes with a dozen kills, boasting a .500 attack percentage. Alex Eggert was even more dialed in, scoring 10 kills on just 13 attacks with no errors, finishing with a brutally efficient .769 attack percentage. Ayre Takamoto had 23 assists with Jordan Freer contributing eight while Savanna Colliado had a team-best 10 digs. Je T'aime Paio tallied nine digs with Matsushima adding eight and a team-high four aces. 
 
The Lutes finish off their road trip tomorrow evening, facing Lewis & Clark College at 6 p.m.