Piper volleyball defeats St. Olaf, Grinnell

In their debut match of the tournament, the Pipers played a non-conference contest against MIAC opponent St. Olaf. Hamline coasted to a 3-0 win on game scores of 30-17, 30-17, and 30-24.

Match two pitted Hamline against Grinnell College (Iowa) from the Midwest Conference. Hamline took a 1-0 lead after winning the first game 30-21, but trailed for most of the second game, before pulling it out 31-29. They closed out the match with a 30-20 game three.

Against Grinnell, the Pipers used a balanced offensive attack, getting five kills and 34 assists from setter Jenny Nichols, six kills each from Brittany Roemhild, Emily Amici and Amanda Booth, ten kills from Shelby Hyllengren, and 11 from Tasha Simmons. Heidi Larsen led the Pipers with three aces.

Defensively, Simmons led Hamline with 16 digs, while Amici contributed 15.

The Pipers take to the floor again at the College of St. Catherine on Saturday in day two of the tournament. In the first match of the day, head coach Lynette Jones will compete against her daughter for the first time when the Pipers take on Bethany Lutheran at 9:00 a.m. They will conclude the tournament against St. Catherine at 11:00 a.m. All matches will be considered non-conference contests.