Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Grinnell College volleyball team not only set a school record in Friday's five-set win over Crown College, the Pioneers destroyed it.
Grinnell pounded down a program-record 71 kills on its way to winning 23-25, 25-8, 25-8, 22-25 and 15-8 at the North Central University Invitational. Grinnell later beat the host school in three sets to finish the first day of action with a perfect 2-0 record.
The previous Grinnell school record for kills was 62, established in 2011 against Carroll University.
Olivia Jensen '21 tallied 19 kills and had a hitting efficiency of .516, fourth-best in program history. As a team Grinnell hit .340, which ranks seventh in the Pioneer record books.
Sydney Vrecenar '18 added 16 kills and hit .417, while
Kaylin Kuhn '21 and
Emma Willhardt '19 had 15 kills apiece. The kill totals of Vrecenar and Willhardt were both career highs, both Vrecenar's previous best being 11 in 2014 and Willhardt's being 14 set earlier this season.
Margaret Giles '18 checked in with a career-high 60 assists, topping her previous best of 51 set last year, and 12 digs. Others with double-digit digs were Kuhn and
Deanna Taylor '18 with 15 each, Vrecenar with 13 and
Madison Smith '20 with 10.
Olivia Jensen '21 served up four aces.
After losing the first set, the Pioneers won convincingly in the second and third. Taylor had a 12-point service run in the second set and Vrecenar served four points in a row. It was more of the same in the third set as Vrecenar opened things up with a six-point service run.
After Crown won the fourth set, the Pioneers left little doubt they'd win the fifth as Jensen began with a six-point service run. Grinnell continued to lead comfortably and Vrecenar secured the win with a kill.
Grinnell followed with a 25-22, 25-16, 25-8 win over North Central. Kuhn and Jensen each had 10 kills, with Jensen hitting an even .500 which ties for fifth-best in a match for a Pioneer.
Giles had 26 assists, three aces and 10 digs. Kuhn also had three aces, Willhardt came up with two solo blocks and Taylor tallied 11 digs.
The first set was tied 10-all before the Pioneers went on an 8-2 run to pull ahead for good. Jensen, Kuhn and Willhardt all had kills in that span.
The second set was the same, as Grinnell broke away from a 9-all tie with an 8-1 run. Kuhn served six points in that span. The Pioneers took a 7-0 lead in the third set and sailed from there.
Grinnell, 3-2 on the season, continues the invitational Saturday with matches against Faith Baptist Bible College and Providence University College.
