MWC Tournament Page

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – For the third year in a row, the Grinnell College volleyball team is heading to the campus of Cornell College to compete in the Midwest Conference Volleyball Tournament.
 
The Pioneers, 7-2 in MWC play and 17-15 overall, are the second seed and will face St. Norbert College at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. The Green Knights are the third seed and went 7-2 in the conference while sporting a 12-14 overall mark.
 
Grinnell and St. Norbert played an epic battle Oct. 19 in Darby Gymnasium, with the Pioneers pulling out a five-set win in the two-hour marathon. Set scores, in favor of Grinnell, were 14-25, 25-17, 14-25, 25-21 and 15-7.
 
Kaylin Kuhn '21 had 18 kills in that match and Hannah Taylor '21 put down 14. Julianna Roth '22 had 45 assists, while Madison Smith '20 tallied 22 digs. Grace Baumann and Halie Ferry each had 15 kills for St. Norbert and Lexie Van Hiel added 13. Danielle Dolan and Emily Rohloff dished out 22 and 16 assists, respectively, while Baumann also had 26 digs.
 
Kuhn leads the MWC in kills per set with 4.40 and aces with 0.56, while Payton Lowrey '22 is second in aces with 0.47 and Roth ranks third in assists at 9.86. Emma Willhardt '19 is fifth in blocks (0.74) and 10th in hitting efficiency (.240), while Smith ranks fifth in digs with 4.78 and Lowrey 10th at 3.69.
 
St. Norbert's Van Hiel is third in the MWC in hitting efficiency at .319, while Jasiah Lee is third in digs at 4.99 per set. Baumann ranks fourth in kills at 3.80 and Ferry is ninth with 3.09. Rohloff is seventh in assists with 5.70.
 
The winner of Friday's match faces either Cornell or Illinois College in the title contest at 1 p.m. Saturday. The champion earns the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.