GRINNELL, Iowa – What's already been a stellar season for the Grinnell College volleyball team turned extra special Saturday with a school-record performance.
The Pioneers shattered the school record for victories in a season with 24 as they disposed of Buena Vista University in four sets at Darby Gymnasium and followed with a three-set sweep of Central College. At 24-4, the Pioneers passed the 1998 squad's 23-win effort. Grinnell also finished the 2019 home slate unbeaten at 15-0.
In the match against Buena Vista, Grinnell hit a solid .251 while winning by scores of 25-16, 23-25, 25-14 and 25-20.
Kaylin Kuhn '21 had 19 kills and
Rachel Woock '23 added 12 while hitting .333. Kuhn and Woock added 18 and 12 digs, respectively, while Kuhn also served up three aces.
Julianna Roth '22 added 39 assists, 11 digs and three aces, while
Payton Lowrey '22 had 19 digs,
Emmy Nyquist '23 two aces and
Anna Killin '22 three blocks.
Grinnell used a 10-0 run in the first set to break away from a 6-all tie. Woock sparked the run with three kills. After Buena Vista won the second set, Grinnell scored eight of the first 10 points in the third on the road to victory. Kuhn had two kills during the spurt.
Buena Vista forced a 16-all tie in the fourth set, but the Pioneers put the match away with a key five-point run as Taylor had two kills and Nyquist an ace.
The Pioneers then knocked off Central by scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-22. Kuhn had 15 kills, 11 digs and three aces, Roth added 38 assists and Lowrey served two aces. As a team, Grinnell hit .357 and had eight blocks in the contest, with
Sophia Carbajal '21 and
Hannah Taylor '21 each recording four block assists.
All three sets were tight. In the opener, it was tied 20-all when Killin and Taylor recorded consecutive kills and Kuhn and Killin teamed up for a block for a 23-20 edge. The Pioneers went on to win from there.
Grinnell rallied in the second set, which also saw a 20-all tie before a Central service error, combo block by Carbajal and Taylor and ace by Kuhn put Grinnell ahead 23-20. After a Central point, Carbajal had a kill and the Dutch an attack error to give Grinnell the win.
The third set was more of the same, as the Dutch rallied within 23-22 before they had a service error and
Madison Smith '20 added a kill to finish off the Pioneer win.
During the day's action, Lowrey moved up to fourth on Grinnell's season-best aces list with 58, Kuhn jumped to sixth in kills with 429 and seventh in points with 491.5 and Roth raced to ninth in assists with 954. As a team, Grinnell is now at 245 aces, third-best in a season, and 1,132 assists, which ranks 10th.
The Pioneers travel to Mount Vernon on Friday for a showdown with host Cornell College in the Midwest Conference Tournament. The Pioneers have beaten the Rams twice this season. Match time is 7 p.m.
