GRINNELL, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women's volleyball team started off their season with two big wins on Friday, taking down the Carroll University Pioneers 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-21) and (RV) Calvin University Knights 3-2 (24-26, 19-25, 25-21, 25-12, 15-8) in two incredible comeback victories on Day 1 of the Central-Grinnell Invitational.

The Spartans dropped the first set in their opening match against the Pioneers, but stormed back to take three straight sets behind an astounding performance from Ashley Glennon, who tallied thirteen kills and nine digs on the match. Delainey Winkel added twelve kills and Kiley Elgert tacked on nine more kills for a .389 attacking percentage. Taylor Bechen led the Spartans with nineteen digs. At the net, Alexis Kammerer and Ashlyn McGinnis aided the offensive effort with 26 and 17 assists, respectively. The Spartans found their rhythm by the third set, holding the lead for the entire final two sets.

The Knights of Calvin jumped out to a 2-0 lead in two hard-fought sets in the Spartans' second match. Despite this, the Spartans stormed back in the third with a string of six consecutive points to take a 16-12 lead they wouldn't relinquish. Aided by strings of six and five consecutive points in the fourth set, which they led wire-to-wire, the Spartans forced a winner-take-all fifth set against the Knights. The Knights quickly showed they wouldn't go away easily, taking an early 6-2 lead. Fresh out of a timeout, the Spartans took 13 of the next 15 points behind three massive kills from Payton Uptagraft. Uptagraft came up big against the Knights, tallying ten kills and three blocks. Winkel put together another impressive performance, adding fifteen kills and a block. Glennon and Elgert finished with double-digit kills in the match as well. Kammerer and McGinnis led the Spartans with 23 and 14 assists on the night.

Up Next
The Spartans sit at 2-0 after the first day of competition and will take on Grinnell College (11:00 a.m.) and Knox College (1:00 p.m.) on Saturday, August 30 for Day two of the Central-Grinnell Invitational. Grinnell won both matches today against Bethany Lutheran and Knox, while Knox lost their lone match to Buena Vista.