GRINNELL, Iowa – The Illinois College volleyball team once again battled closely with a top Midwest Conference foe, only to fall, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-19) on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Blues dropped their second straight match and fell out of the MWC's top four spots with the loss, falling to 15-6 (4-3 MWC). Grinnell College solidifies its position in the conference standings and is 14-12 (5-1 MWC) after the win.
Both teams came out firing in the first set and had match-highs for kills. The Lady Blues had 18 of their 45 kills in the set, while Grinnell had 14 of its 35. Illinois College zoomed ahead to a 3-0 lead and still led by three at 14-11 before the Pioneers began to close the gap. The last lead of the set for IC came at 19-18 after a kill from
Brenna Dameris, but Grinnell answered with two straight points from Hannah Taylor to go on top. Dameris tied the score at 20-20, only for Grinnell to follow with a kill from Payton Lowrey and an ace from Madison Smith to take the lead for good.
Illinois College took a 5-0 lead in the second set as opening attack errors from Kaylin Kuhn were followed by kills from
Rebecca Shields and
Ali Pankey. Grinnell continually hung around and finally tied the score for the first time at 20-20. A
MacKenzie Heinz kill gave IC the lead back at 22-21, but the set closed with four straight points from the Pioneers to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Grinnell used the momentum it had to notch a pair of five-point outbursts in the third set. The first turned a 5-4 deficit into a 9-5 lead, and the second extended an 11-10 edge out to 16-10. Illinois College responded with four straight points to get back within two, but the Pioneers had enough in the tank and the Lady Blues helped them out with 11 attack errors in the set.
Pankey ended with a double-double of 14 kills and 14 digs for the Lady Blues on the day.
Elizabeth Ganley also produced a double-double with 36 assists and 13 digs.
Cheyanne Jockisch matched Pankey with a team-high 14 digs on the afternoon. Dameris ended with nine kills and Shields added eight.
Next up for the Lady Blues are consecutive home matches that will determine their postseason fate. On Oct. 19, IC hosts Beloit College, who currently sits one spot behind in sixth place, at 7 p.m. Then on the afternoon of Oct. 20, the Lady Blues host Senior Day against Lake Forest College, currently one spot above IC in fourth place.
