ST. PAUL, Minn. - Grinnell College's volleyball team kicked off the Macalester Tournament on the right note Friday, sweeping Trinity Bible College 25-14, 25-18 and 25-9 and winning in four sets over Alverno College 25-15, 25-10, 24-26 and 25-7.

Grinnell had 49 assists against Trinity, the second-most in program history for a three-set match, and also had 48 kills which ranks eighth in a three-set contest. Grinnell hit .365 in the match, including a .556 efficiency by Kaylin Kuhn '21, .444 by Payton Lowrey '22 and .389 by Sophia Carbajal '21. Carbajal led Grinnell in kills with 11.

Julianna Roth '22 added 27 assists and Julia Welch '22 tallied 12. Lowrey served three aces and had 10 digs, while Madison Smith '20 tallied 15 digs. The Pioneers used a 13-5 run midway through the first set to pull away and rallied from a 12-10 deficit in the second set with an 11-5 spurt. The third set was tied 3-all before Grinnell scored four points in a row and never looked back.

Kuhn had 13 kills and hit .303 against Alverno and Emma Willhardt '19 added 10 kills and hit .350. Roth distributed 38 assists and Welch, Lowrey, Sidney Litke '19 and Smith had two aces apiece. Lowrey led Grinnell in digs with 16, Smith tallied 15 and Welch had 10.

An 11-4 run sparked the first set win and 17-2 spurt helped Grinnell pull away from a 6-5 lead in the second set. After seeing a 19-14 lead disappear in the third set, the Pioneers bounced back in the fourth as a 14-point service run by Welch helped Grinnell pull away from a 6-5 match.

The Pioneers, 8-4 overall, conclude the tournament Saturday with matches against Macalester College and Carleton College.