MONMOUTH, Ill. - Facing the distinct possibility of its season ending Saturday, the Grinnell College volleyball team rose to the occasion.

The Pioneers, who needed a victory to qualify for next week's Midwest Conference Tournament, lost the first two sets at Monmouth College before reeling off three consecutive wins to punch their postseason ticket.

Emily Brewer '24 established a school record for a five-set match with 68 assists, a figure that ranks second overall behind the four-set total of 72 by Amber Donahue in the pre-rally score era. The Pioneers' overall assist total of 73 ranks fifth at Grinnell.

Grinnell (13-16, 5-3 MWC) has made the four-team league tourney seven years in a row and 12 times overall. The Pioneers will be the fourth seed and play top-seeded Cornell College next Friday in Mount Vernon.

Monmouth (11-13, 4-4 MWC) eked out victories of 26-24 and 27-25 in the first two sets. Then Grinnell came to life, taking the third set 25-22 after trailing 17-15. The lead changed hands a few times after that before Grinnell finished with a four-point run that included two kills from both Jenna Keller '24 and Malaina Miles '24.

The Pioneers played off that momentum, posting a 25-19 victory in the fourth set. Grinnell finished things off in the fifth set, winning 15-12. Monmouth broke out to leads of 2-0, 4-2 and 6-4 before a three-point Pioneer run that included kills from Keller and Millie Leonard '27.

Grinnell never trailed after that, as it used a two-point run with the aid of Sophie Weber's '25 ace to go up 13-10. It was later 14-12 when Leonard's kill secured the victory.

Keller had a career-best 26 kills while hitting a sizzling .440. Leonard added 14 kills, Hayley Taka '26 had 13 and Miles added 12. As a team, Grinnell hit .314 which is fourth-best this season. The team's 75 overall kills rank among the top 10 in program history.

Weber had 36 digs, Emmy Nyquist '24 added 12 and Rachel Woock '24 posted 11.