GRINNELL, Iowa – Any fan of volleyball would have enjoyed a thrilling day of play at Darby Gymnasium in the Grinnell College Tournament.
The Pioneers had epic battles with both Buena Vista University and Augustana College. In the Buena Vista match, Grinnell rallied from a 25-12, 25-22 set deficit with wins of 25-19 and 31-29 to force a fifth set. In that one, Buena Vista eked out a 15-13 decision.
The Pioneers won a marathon 30-28 decision against Augustana in the opening set before losing nail-biters 27-25, 25-22, 27-25 as the Vikings secured the win.
Kaylin Kuhn '21 put her name among the Pioneer program leaders in both matches. She had 32 kills against Augustana, the third-most for a Grinnell player and most ever for a four-set match. Against Buena Vista, her 28 kills rank ninth all-time and seventh for a five-set match.
Additionally,
Emma Willhardt '19 moved up to eighth all-time at Grinnell in the career solo blocks list with 86.
Besides Kuhn's numbers against Buena Vista,
Payton Lowrey '22 added 14 kills and
Julianna Roth '22 dished out 43 assists. Kuhn also had four aces and 20 digs.
Madison Smith '20 led the way with 25 digs, Lowrey tallied 20, Roth had 15 and
Julia Welch '22 contributed 10.
Grinnell came alive in the third set after losing the first two, turning a 5-4 lead into a 13-9 cushion with the help of two Lowrey kills. Grinnell went on to win easily. The Pioneers looked all but done in the fourth set, trailing 20-11 and later 21-14 before scoring eight straight points. Kuhn had three aces during that span and also a kill. The teams went back and forth after that before a setting error by Buena Vista and kill by Lowrey gave Grinnell the win. The Pioneers led the fifth set 5-2 before the Beavers came back to win.
Against Augustana, Roth had 45 assists and Welch two aces. Double-digit digs belonged to Lowrey with 23, Smith with 21, Welch with 19 and Kuhn with 16.
Grinnell got out to a 21-14 lead in the first set before Augustana rallied for a 22-21 lead. Both teams staved off defeat before Grinnell got a pair of kills from
Hannah Taylor '21 for the 30-28 win. The Pioneers were close to winning the second set when Kuhn's kill made it 24-23. However, Augustana went on to claim victory. The Vikings did the same in the next two sets for the match win.
Grinnell, 5-4 on the season, returns to Darby Tuesday when Faith Baptist College visits for a 7 p.m. match.
