INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A valiant effort nearly erased a two-set deficit to Marian on Wednesday, but Grace's volleyball team came up a few points short in a five-set defeat.

The Lady Lancers fell behind two sets to none after losing 25-19 and 25-22. The team proved they would not go down without a fight, however, with a 25-14 win in the third set. The Knights (6-2; 3-1 Crossroads League) committed 11 errors in the game.

Grace went on to pound out 16 team kills in the fourth set, winning 25-21 to set up a tiebreaking fifth set.

Marian jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, but the Lady Lancers (9-3; 1-3 CL) battled back to even the score. The Knights went on to score the next six points to take a commanding 11-5 advantage, but again Grace refused to go down easily. The Lady Lancers, on the strength of attacks from Calah Kruse and Alix Underwood, cut their deficit to 14-13 before Marian ended the match on a kill.

"This was a good match to see the girls battling back after being down 2-0," said Grace coach Andria Harshman. "We know this wasn't how we wanted to start league play, but the Crossroads League is better than it's ever been right now, and we will find a way to respond."

Dana Johnston finished with a match-high 16 kills for Grace to go along with three block assists. Calah Kruse tallied 14 kills on a .231 percentage to go along with 21 digs, and Jessica Scherb produced a career-high mark of 25 digs in defeat.

Alix Underwood added 11 kills and three block assists, and Ellie Harp handed out 32 assists.

The Lady Lancers' next match is a home contest on Friday night 7 p.m. against Huntington.