MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – Grinnell College's volleyball team saw a memorable season come to a close Friday afternoon with a three-set loss to St. Norbert College in the Midwest Conference Tournament semifinals.
 
The Pioneers, who finished at 14-11 for their best winning percentage since the 2002 season, lost by scores of 25-15, 25-15 and 25-14. St. Norbert, 15-14 overall, advances to Saturday's title match.
 
Grinnell got nine kills from All-MWC first-teamer Olivia Fromm '17, while all-league second-teamer Margaret Giles '18 dished out 18 assists.
 
Sydney Vrecenar '18 and Emily Friedman '19 had 14 and 11 digs, respectively, while Emma Willhardt '19 and Ariel Lepito '17 had three blocks each.
 
Evelyn Weidman served up an ace and had a block, giving her 196 blocks for her career, just shy of making the program's career top 10 list.
 
Grinnell jumped out to a 3-2 lead in the opening set thanks to kills by Fromm and Willhardt, but the Green Knights answered with a 7-1 run and never looked back.
 
In the second set, St. Norbert shot out to leads of 5-1 and 9-4. Grinnell got as close as 17-13 on a St. Norbert service error, but the winners came back with an 8-2 run to finish off the win.
 
The third set was 13-10 after Weidman's service ace, but the Green Knights took control with a 7-1 run on their way to securing the match.
 
The 14 wins by Grinnell ranks sixth in program history and is the most for the team since the 2009 squad also won 14.