Aug. 19, 2022, ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Grand Rapids Community College volleyball team struggled against two of the top teams in the nation on Friday, dropping the squad's first two matches of the season.

GRCC is ranked No. 11 in the nation, but faced the No. 4 and No. 3 teams at  the McHenry College Invitational.  

GRCC opened the season against Iowa Central Community College, which was ranked No. 4 in the National Junior College Athletic Association DII preseason poll after a fourth-place finish in the national tournament last year.  The Tritons were winners in four sets: 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23.

Sophomore outside Audrey Torres scored a career-high 26 points including 23 kills, two aces and a block. She and sophomore Audrey Gower each had 12 digs with Braelyn Berry and Shannon Russell each digging up 10 balls.

Alena Visnovsky was GRCC's leading blocker, with a career-best six.

GRCC then took on No. 3-ranked Johnson County Community College, which defeated Iowa Central for third place in the national tournament last year. The Cavaliers would sweep GRCC 25-16, 25-18, 25-20.

All 12 GRCC players contributed during the match.

Torres once again led the team in kills, with eight.  Berry had four kills in her first start as an outside hitter. Right-side hitter Karissa Ferry added six kills after having 10 in the first match.  Visnovsky had a career-high four kills while adding two more blocks.

Gower led all players with nine digs and Kara Hecht added six.

GRCC will be back on the court at 10 a.m. on Saturday against Carl Sandburg College.  The team concludes the tournament with a match against State College of Florida at 1 p.m.  

The matches are streamed live on the team's Facebook page.