PORTLAND, Ore. – The Whittier College volleyball team dropped its final two games of the Northwest Conference Invitational on Sunday afternoon to walk away with an even 2-2 record at its first tournament of the year.

The first match of the afternoon was a five-set thriller that featured a combined 111 kills.

Whittier took the first set, 28-26, before George Fox rebounded to take a 2-1 lead behind a 25-22 win in the second set and a 26-24 win in the third. The Poets came back strong in the fourth set with a 25-21 win before ultimately falling in the deciding set, 15-11.

One of Whittier's main offensive threats came from a relatively unlikely source. Vanessa Amran, who is known for her sets, led the Poets with a team-high 10 kills. Lauren Whiteman matched Amran's efforts on the offensively end with 10 of her own kills.

In addition to her offensive efforts, Amran finished with a team-high 33 assists.

Alayna Rigo played well offensive and defensively as she totaled 26 digs and nine kills. Adriana Moore led the team with 27 digs.

The Poets finished with 52 kills on 214 attempts and had 6.0 team blocks.

In the final match of the tournament, Whittier fell in straight sets, 25-13, 25-9, 25-13, to Northwest (Wash.).

The Poets played a total of 13 players for the match and totaled 16 kills. Shannon Orlins and Nicole Boyer led the team with five kills each. Amran added 10 assists while Moore had the lone ace for the purple and gold.

Whittier returns to action next Friday and Saturday at the Cal-Lu-Fornia Invitational hosted by Cal Lutheran.