MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - In what proved to be a thrill-a-minute match, Grinnell College's volleyball rose to the occasion to secure its second straight trip to the Midwest Conference Tournament title match.

The Pioneers rallied from a 2-1 deficit in sets, winning the final two to earn a 25-16, 20-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-11 victory over Illinois College. 

Grinnell, the second seed in the tourney, will play top seed Cornell College in the championship match at 1 p.m. Saturday in Mount Vernon. The winner earns the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

It was a special night for Kaylin Kuhn '22, who not only was named MWC Player of the Year but also broke the school record for career kills and tied the mark for ace serves. 

Kuhn pounded down 27 kills, giving her 1,706 for her career to move past Dinah Zebot. She also had three aces to push her career total to 198, the same as Courtney Sapp. Kuhn has 469 kills this season, fourth-best at Grinnell, and her 55 aces rank eighth.

Olivia Jensen '22 added 14 kills for Grinnell and hit .345. She now ranks 14th in program history with 668 kills.

Anna Killin '23 added 11 kills and hit .348. Emily Brewer '24 and Julianna Roth '22 led the setting attack with 32 and 22 assists, respectively, and Jenna Keller '24 contributed four blocks. Double-digit digs were posted by Payton Lowrey '23 (24), Kuhn and Roth (14 each) and Rachel Woock '23 (13).

Grinnell (20-13) used a four-point run to take control of the first set, as kills by Jensen and Kuhn as well as a combo block from Jensen and Brewer pushed the winners ahead 11-7. They never looked back.

After Illinois College (11-15) took the next two sets, Grinnell got to work in the fourth and built a 21-14 lead. After the Lady Blues climbed within 21-18 and 22-19, Grinnell closed out the victory as Jensen had a kill and Illinois College two attack errors.

The fifth set was just as entertaining as the others. After Grinnell went ahead 6-3, the Lady Blues answered with a four-point run to take the lead. Illinois College was up 9-8 a short time later before the Pioneers came up big, with consecutive kills by Jensen, Kuhn and Brewer putting them ahead 11-9. 

Twice Illinois College pulled within a point, the last time at 12-11, but Brewer pounded down a kill and Kuhn two more to close out the win and send the Pioneers to Saturday's title match.