GRINNELL, Iowa – Playing before an enthusiastic home crowd, Grinnell College's volleyball team didn't disappoint Friday on the first day of its own Grinnell Tournament.
 
The Pioneers won a set from Coe College and battled to the finish in two others as the Kohawks came away with a thrilling four-set win. Grinnell followed that up by disposing of Crown College with no trouble in three sets.
 
Grinnell came up with 13 aces against Crown, the eighth-most in a three-set match in program history. Payton Lowrey '22 had six of those aces, which ranks sixth in a three-set affair.
 
Kaylin Kuhn '21 led Grinnell with eight kills in the 25-11, 25-10, 25-7 win over Crown, while Lowrey and Emma Willhardt '19 had seven each and Sophia Carbajal '21 five to go along with a .364 hitting efficiency. Julianna Roth '22 dished out 21 assists and Madison Smith '20 had 13 digs.
 
Grinnell led the first set just 11-8 before going on a 9-1 run. Lowrey served five of those points, including three aces, while Willhardt and Kuhn each had kills. Grinnell trailed the second set 2-0 before opening things up with a 12-2 spurt. Sidney Litke '19 had five of those service points and Kuhn added another five. Each had two aces in that span.
 
The third set saw Grinnell turn a 13-11 lead into a 20-14 cushion and cruise from there for the win, improving to 5-2 on the season. Grinnell limited Crown to a negative hitting percentage for the match.
 
In the contest with Coe, which the Kohawks won 20-25, 28-26, 25-15 and 28-26, Kuhn had a match-high 22 kills and Lowrey added 12. Roth dished out 38 assists and Smith tallied 32 digs, the fourth-most in program history for a four-set match. Kuhn and Lowrey added 12 and 10 digs, respectively.
 
Grinnell used a key four-point run on Welch's serve to turn a tied contest into a 13-9 lead in the opening set. Later, leading 23-20, Willhardt delivered a kill and Welch served up a point to secure the victory.
 
There were multiple ties in the second set, including late when it was knotted at 22, 23 and 24. Grinnell got a 25-24 edge with a Willhardt kill, but the Kohawks scored twice in a row for a 26-25 lead. After a Lowrey kill, the Kohawks gained the win with two points.
 
Grinnell grabbed a 7-5 lead in the third set before the Kohawks put together an 11-2 run to pull away. In the fourth set, Grinnell bolted out to a 14-9 lead with the aid of Lowrey's serve. The Pioneers were still up 17-13 following a kill by Kuhn, but Coe crept back and eventually tied it at 20-all.
 
It was back and forth after that, with Grinnell turning a two-point deficit into a 25-24 lead with a kill by Willhardt and ace by Litke. The teams then traded points when Coe scored three in a row for the win.
 
The tourney continues Saturday as Grinnell plays both Buena Vista University and Augustana College.