Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Grinnell College's volleyball team closed the Mabel Lee Invite on a strong note Saturday, and gave coach Eric Ragan '12 his first career coaching victory in the process.

The Pioneers rolled over Northland College 25-18, 25-16 and 25-13 in the event hosted by Coe College. Kaylin Kuhn '21 pounded down 12 kills, Emma Willhardt '19 had seven and Nora Hill '19 six. Margaret Giles '18 dished out 29 assists and served two aces, and Sydney Vrecenar '18 had two aces. Deanna Taylor '18 added 20 digs and Willhardt two solo blocks.

On Friday, the Pioneers stood tall against two nationally-ranked teams. The Pioneers battled well against both the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse at the event. Grinnell lost 25-16, 27-25, 25-16 to 12th-ranked UW-Whitewater and took a set from 18th-rated UW-La Crosse, falling 25-21, 25-11, 24-26, 25-15.

In the UW-Whitewater match, Giles distributed 13 assists. Kuhn and Olivia Jensen '21 had four kills each, while Kuhn and Madison Smith '21 added two aces apiece. Taylor had 11 digs and Giles two solo blocks.

Giles had 25 assists against UW-La Crosse and Willhardt pounded down 14 kills to go along with a .387 hitting efficiency. Taylor served up three of the team's eighth aces, while Kuhn and Jensen had two each. Three players added double-digit digs - Taylor with 16, Vrecenar with 14 and Kuhn with 11. Willhardt tallied two block assists.

The Pioneers are at the North Central (Minn.) University Invitational next weekend.