GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College punched its ticket to its sixth Midwest Conference Volleyball Tournament in a row Thursday by rolling past Knox College in three sets at Darby Gymnasium.
 
The Pioneers also remained unbeaten in the MWC play while stretching their league winning streak to seven matches with victories in 15 of the last 16.
 
The 25-16, 25-18, 25-17 win pushed Grinnell to 6-0 in the MWC and 15-6 overall. Knox fell to 1-4 in the league and 6-9 in all contests.
 
Hayley Taka '26 led Grinnell's balanced hitting attack with 10 kills, while Rachel Woock '23 added eight and hit .333. Grinnell limited the Prairie Fire to just a .024 hitting efficiency.
 
Emily Brewer '24 contributed 19 assists for Grinnell and Amelia Adam '25 had two aces. Kylie Snell '26 led the team in blocks with four, while Payton Lowrey '23 and Brewer had 18 and 12 digs, respectively.
 
A six-point run helped Grinnell pull away from a 7-6 lead in the first set. Emmy Nyquist '24 served five of those points as Grinnell coasted to the easy win. The Pioneers picked up where they left off in the second set, breaking out to an 8-2 lead and never looking back.
 
Knox got the early lead in the third set and held a 14-11 cushion before a five-point run put Grinnell ahead to stay. Lowrey served four of those points and Taka and Snell each had kills. It was still just an 18-17 match when Grinnell finished things off with a seven-point run that included an ace by Sophie Weber '25 and kills from Taka and Avery Richardson '23.
 
Grinnell has nearly a week off before playing at Eureka College next Wednesday, starting at 5 p.m.