RIPON, Wis. - The Red Hawks began their conference season on a high note Saturday, defeating Grinnell College in five sets.

Grinnell took the first set 25-19, but Ripon took the next two by identical 25-23 scores. The Pioneers stayed alive with a 26-24 victory in the fourth set, to force a fifth and final set. In that final frame, Grinnell took a 9-5 lead, before Ripon rallied to win 10 of the final 13 points to take the fifth set by a score of 15-12 to secure the victory.

Ripon (6-12, 1-0 MWC) was led by Emily Allard, who recorded a triple-double with a team-high 20 kills, 17 assists, and 16 digs, to go along with two service aces and a hitting percentage of .300. Kat Kulas and Brooke Bauer each added 11 kills, with Kulas adding three blocks and a hitting percentage of .333. Olivia Heck led the Red Hawks with 28 assists, in addition to two service aces and 17 digs. Stacie Klika led the team in digs with 20. Freshman Micaela Encarnacion finished with a team-high seven service aces, which is tied for sixth in school history for a single match.

Grinnell (10-5, 0-2 MWC) received 17 kills from Emma Willhardt, while Kaylin Kuhn and Olivia Jensen each finished with 16. Deanna Taylor posted 40 digs, while Margaret Giles added 50 assists for the Pioneers.

The Red Hawks will be in action again on Friday when they'll travel to Illinois College. That match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Jacksonville, Ill. and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.