GRINNELL, Iowa – Playing before an enthusiastic fan base on t-shirt giveaway night, the Grinnell College volleyball team delivered a thrilling victory. 
 
After splitting the first two sets with Monmouth College in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams, the Pioneers raced to wins in the next two sets to secure the win at Darby Gymnasium. Set scores were 25-21, 25-27, 25-21 and 25-14. 
 
Kaylin Kuhn '22 had a huge night for Grinnell (10-8, 1-0 MWC) with 21 kills, a .318 hitting efficiency, five ace serves and 12 digs. Rachel Woock '23 and Malaina Miles '24 had 13 and 10 kills, respectively, while Emily Brewer '24 dished out 38 assists and Julianna Roth '23 had 15. 
 
Double-digit digs besides Kuhn came from Payton Lowrey '22 with 23 and Brewer with 11. Kuhn's total pushed her up to 1,107 digs for her career, eighth-best in Pioneer history. 
 
Kuhn's serving prowess was evident almost from the start, as she put up three aces in a row to push the Pioneers to an 8-5 lead as they cruised to victory. The second set saw Monmouth (7-8, 0-1 MWC) rally from a 24-20 deficit to collect the win and even the match at one set apiece. 
 
The Pioneers found themselves in an 18-15 hole in the third set before going on a critical five-point run as Jensen pounded down two kills and Woock and Brewer had one apiece. Grinnell continued to pull away for the set win. 
 
That seemed to take the wind out of Monmouth's sails, as the Pioneers broke out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth set on Lowrey's serve. She had an ace in that span while Kuhn and Miles each had kills. 
 
After the Scots pulled within 7-5, Grinnell responded with an 8-2 run to all put the match out of reach. Woock sparked that run with three kills and an ace. 
 
Grinnell returns to the home floor Saturday for another league match, this against Illinois College. Action begins at 1 p.m.