The Grinnell College volleyball team entertains four other teams as the Pioneers host their annual tournament Friday and Saturday at Darby Gymnasium.

Each team plays twice each day in a round-robin format. On Friday, Grinnell meets Rockford College at 4 p.m. and Iowa Wesleyan at 8. On Saturday, the Pioneers take on the University of Dubuque at 11 a.m. and William Penn at 3 p.m.

Grinnell brings a 1-4 mark into the competition after falling to Clarke College in three games at home Wednesday night. Claire Reeder '11 is averaging 2.42 kills per game for Grinnell, while Elizabeth Davis '11 is averaging 1.63. Olivia Wilks '12 averages 5.95 assists per game and Reeder 0.95 blocks a contest. Tops in digs are Erin Labasan '11 and Caroline Bailey '10 with 2.33 and 2.32 per game, respectively.

The Pioneers are off for a week after their tourney before traveling to the North Park University Tournament on Sept. 12-13. At that event they'll meet Edgewood and Judson on the opening day and close out with North Park, Robert Morris and Illinois College the next day.
2008 Grinnell Volleyball Tournament Schedule

Grinnell College's volleyball team hung close with Clarke College in the first set of Wednesday's match before falling, and the visitors raced away to win the final two sets as well for a 3-0 win in non-conference action at Darby Gymnasium. Game scores, in favor of the Crusaders, were 25-21, 25-13 and 25-14.

Elizabeth Davis '11 and Claire Reeder '11 each had seven kills for the Pioneers, while Olivia Wilks '12 added 17 assists. Bonnie Kircher '12 tallied seven digs, while Caroline Bailey '10 and Anna Day '12 had six each and Reeder five. Abby Nauman and Keri West led Clarke with 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

With the win, Clarke improved to 4-1 on the season while the Pioneers fell to 1-4. The Pioneers remain at home through the weekend as they host the annual Grinnell College Tournament. Grinnell meets Rockford College and Iowa Wesleyan at 4 and 8 p.m. Friday, respectively. On Saturday, the Pioneers take on the University of Dubuque at 11 a.m. and William Penn at 3 p.m.
Box Score

Grinnell College’s volleyball team battled eventual tournament champion Augustana College to five games before falling to the Vikings at the Dominican University Tournament in River Forest, Ill, over the weekend.

Grinnell took the first two games from Augustana Sunday by identical scores of 25-21 before the Vikings reeled off wins of 25-15, 25-19 and 15-10. Also Sunday, the University of Chicago beat Grinnell 25-14, 25-22 and 25-19. The Pioneers split matches Saturday, beating the hosts 25-15, 25-11, 21-25 and 25-22 and falling to Benedictine University 25-13, 19-25, 25-9 and 25-22.

Claire Reeder ’11 (pictured) of Grinnell, who was named to every all-tournament team last year, continued that trend at Dominican by earning another such honor. Grinnell statistics from the tourney were not immediately available. Reeder and Elizabeth Davis '11 both had nine kills against Dominican, while Olivia Wilks '12 added 28 assists. Montgomery also served three aces and Caroline Bailey '10 was credited with nine digs. In the match with Benedictine, Reeder converted 14 kills and Wilks added 29 assists. Erin Labasan '11 had 11 digs.

Wilks had 17 assists and Labasan 10 digs against the University of Chicago. Against Augustana, they had 22 assists and 12 digs, respectively. Reeder added 12 digs, Bailey had 14 digs and Davis 11 digs.

The Pioneers have their first home match of the season Wednesday when Clarke College visits Darby Gymnasium for a non-conference test. Match time is 7:30 p.m.
Grinnell vs. Dominican
Grinnell vs. Benedictine
Grinnell vs. University of Chicago
Grinnell vs. Augustana

Last season's Grinnell College volleyball team survived some initial growing pains and was playing its best ball at the end of the 2007 campaign. With just one senior graduating from that that squad, the Pioneers are looking to pick up where they left off in 2008.

Grinnell finished 3-6 in the Midwest Conference, good for seventh place, and was 5-24 overall. However, the Pioneers finished off the season with consecutive victories over Knox College and Illinois College to springboard them into the 2008 campaign.

Among the top returnees is middle hitter Claire Reeder '11, a Second-Team All-Midwest Conference selection last season. Reeder, who was named to the all-tournament teams at every tournament in which Grinnell competed, etched her name among the Pioneers' all-time leaders in several categories. She finished third-best in kills per game average for a season (4.00), sixth in kills in a season (392) and 11th for blocks in a season (104). She had 32 kills in a match with Culver-Stockton, which is the third-highest total in Grinnell history.

Erin Labasan '11 tallied 718 assists, which ranks eighth all-time for Grinnell, and averaged 3.92 digs per game, 10th-best. She is switching back to outside hitter this season. Defensive specialist Carlie Beach '10 had 34 digs against Culver-Stockton, fifth-best for a Pioneer.

Outside hitter Elizabeth Davis '11 also played a big role, as she ranked second on the team in kills per game (2.50) and digs per game (3.47). Also coming up big at the net were outside hitter Caitlin Helterline '10 (1.53 kills per game) and middle hitter Kelsey Montgomery '11 (1.25 kills and 0.82 blocks per game).

Other contributors back from 2007 are setter Cara Rowe '11 and defensive specialists Rachel Smith '11, Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff '10 and Caroline Bailey '10.

Among the new players are Olivia Wilks, Hannah Campos and Brooke Yoder (all setters), Molly Wingfield (right-side hitter), Gillian Dryjanski and Anna Day (outside/middle hitters), Anne Brothers (middle hitter), Kate Duran (defensive specialist) and Bonnie Kircher (outside hitter). All are first-years except Brothers, who is a sophomore.

"I think this is going to be a special team and that they are poised to take the volleyball program to the 'next level,'" said Grinnell coach Tom Sonnichsen. "The young women who were with us last season made tremendous improvement as the season went on and the incoming players are going to make a big impact. I expect this team to quickly learn how to work together and for them to present a real challenge for all of our opponents.

"We are much more balanced this year than last and we are at least three deep at every position," he added. "I think the base strength of this group is the ball handling, which contributes directly to scoring. Finally, this is an outstanding group of young women who love playing the game and love playing volleyball with each other."

Grinnell College volleyball player Claire Reeder '11 was named to the 2007 All-Midwest Conference second team on Monday.

Reeder, a 6-foot middle hitter from La Grange Park, Ill., provided the Pioneers with a huge spark this season. She not only made the all-tournament team at every tournament in which Grinnell competed, but also etched her name among the Pioneers' all-time leaders in numerous categories. She finished third-best in kills per game average for a season (4.00), sixth in kills in a season (392) and 11th for blocks in a season (104). She had 32 kills in a match with Culver-Stockton, which is the third-highest total in Grinnell history.

Reeder also led the Pioneers in aces with 0.29 per game and was third in digs with 3.15 a contest. Her efforts helped the young Pioneers finish the season with a two-match winning streak, a good sign of things to come.