Box Score GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College dropped its Midwest Conference volleyball opener Tuesday, falling in three sets to Monmouth College at Darby Gymnasium.

The visitors won 25-12 in the first set and then pulled out a hard-fought, thrilling 30-28 decision in the second set. They finished off the sweep with a 25-18 victory to improve to 2-1 in the league and 10-6 overall.

Grinnell, 0-1 in the MWC and 2-15 in all matches, got a team-high 11 kills from Cheyenne Hickox '15, who also hit .240 for the night.

Bethine Moore '13 had 23 assists, Lindsay Fujimoto '15 added 18 digs and two aces and Claire Weidman '15 had 10 digs to go along with four blocks. Michelle Briggs '13 had three blocks.

The first set was tight early, with Grinnell leading 5-4 on an ace by Briggs before Monmouth went on a 9-3 run. The Fighting Scots never looked back en route to the win.

Weidman had a three-point service run in the second set as Grinnell built a 7-3 lead. Monmouth fought back and it was tight the rest of the way.

Fujimoto's three-point service run, which included kills by Natalie Duncombe '15 and Hickox, put the Pioneers ahead 23-22. However, Monmouth scored two consecutive points before a service error tied things at 24-all.

Later, Grinnell was at set point when a kill by Hickox made it a 26-25 Pioneer lead. There were three more ties after that, the final at 28-all on a Monmouth hitting attack, before two consecutive points by the visitors gave them the victory.

Monmouth shot out to a 10-4 lead in the third set and Grinnell had to play catch-up the rest of the way. The Pioneers got as close as 21-16 on a kill by Hickox, but the Fighting Scots bounced back to secure the win.

Grinnell has two home matches Saturday, meeting Knox College at 11 a.m. in a MWC contest and Simpson College at 3 p.m. in non-conference action. Knox and Simpson play at 1 p.m.