The Grinnell College volleyball team collected its fifth victory in a row Saturday afternoon by topping Buena Vista University in four sets at Darby Gymnasium.
Grinnell won by scores of 31-29, 25-14, 23-25 and 25-17 to move to 9-13 overall, while the Beavers fell to 9-16.
Lindsay Fujimoto ’15 (pictured) served up six aces for Grinnell while also coming up with 14 digs. Michelle Briggs ’13 pounded down 21 kills and hit .333 while also accumulating seven blocks.
Olivia Wilks ’12 added 41 assists and four blocks, while Kate Duran ’12 tallied 20 digs and Bonnie Kircher ’12 and Claire Weidman ’15 had 11 digs apiece.
Grinnell led most of the first set before Buena Vista roared back and forced multiple ties, including at 28-all and 29-all. But a kill by Kircher and another by Briggs finished off the set.
Grinnell was up 9-7 in the second set before going on a key 8-3 run to pull away. Duran had five service points during that span and Gillian Dryjanski ’12 two kills. Grinnell continued to roll and won with ease.
But Buena Vista bounced back to win the third set and grabbed a 14-9 lead in the fourth before the Pioneers put together a spectacular comeback. Grinnell rattled off 14 points in a row on Fujimoto’s serve, who had two aces in that span, to put Grinnell up 23-14. Briggs also had two kills.
The Pioneers later got another point on Briggs’ kill and finished off the match on a service error by the visitors.
Grinnell travels to Lake Forest College next Saturday for a Midwest Conference match with the Foresters, and then plays a non-league contest against Trinity.
