GRINNELL, Iowa (October 13, 2021) - It was a non-conference showdown inside of Darby Gymnasium on the Grinnell College campus on Wednesday night, but after winning the opening set 25-23, the Buena Vista University volleyball team came up short in the next three against the Pioneers, including a heartbreaking 27-25 loss, in the second.

Senior Sydney McLaren led BVU offensively with 14 kills and also tallied 14 digs for her 10th double-double of the season.  She has just three attack errors in 47 total swings.  Hannah Smith and Courtney Johnson each followed with six kills apiece as BVU totaled 37 over the three sets while committing only 15 attack errors.  Junior Taylor Wedemeyer had 30 assists and 13 digs while senior Jade Hays led the team with 19 digs.

The Pioneers finished the match with 34 attack errors but also tallied 68 kills and seven ace serves.  Kaylin Kuhn led Grinnell with a match-high 22 kills to go along with 17 digs.

Grinnell jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead in the opening frame and remained in front at 14-8.  BVU began to chip away at that cushion and would eventually pull even at 16-16 on an attack error by the Pioneers.  After Grinnell went back in front at 19-16, BVU scored four of the next six points to get back within 21-20 and then finished the match by scoring the final four points, including a block from Wedemeyer and Rachel Brockney to end it.

BVU led most of the second set and was sitting on set-point at 24-20 before the Pioneers rolled off five straight to take a 25-24 lead.  BVU tied it back up at 25-25 on a kill by Wedemeyer, but Grinnell got a kill and an ace to pull out the 25-27 win.

The Pioneers held the Beavers to a combined 16 kills over the next two sets.  Grinnell scored eight of the last 10 points of the third set to win 25-21 and would build an 18-7 lead in the fourth before taking match with a 25-18 victory.

Buena Vista dips to 9-8 overall and will be off until October 22 when it travels to the University of Dubuque for an American Rivers Conference match-up with the Spartans scheduled for 5:30 p.m.