GRINNELL, Iowa — The Grinnell College volleyball team won a pair of tight opening sets Friday and went on to a 3-1 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University at Darby Gymnasium.
Grinnell won 25-23, 25-22, 15-25, 25-18.
Olivia Fromm led Grinnell (12-9, 4-2 MWC). with 15 kills, and Margaret Giles picked up 32 assists. Arianna Neumeyer paced all players with 16 kills for Lawrence (10-13, 5-3), and Rachel Barthel added 13.
Cyra Bammer led Lawrence with 37 digs, and Neumeyer picked up 21 digs and three aces. Sydney Nelson paced the Vikings with 16 assists.
The first set was tied at 22-22, but a Grinnell kill and a Lawrence error gave the Pioneers a two-point edge. Neumeyer countered with a kill for the Vikings, but Grinnell got a kill from Ariel Lepito to close out the set.
Lawrence trailed 21-12 in the second set before rallying. The Vikings went on a 10-2 run, capped by Lauren Ray’s ace, to cut the lead to 24-22. Emily Friedman countered with a kill to give Grinnell a 2-0 lead.
Lawrence dominated the third set and cruised to an easy victory, but Grinnell pulled away midway through the fourth set for a 17-10 lead. The Vikings bounced back and cut the margin to 24-18 before a Lawrence service error gave Grinnell the set and match.