WINONA LAKE, Ind. - The first set between Grace's volleyball team and No. 25 Indiana Wesleyan by itself was worth the price of admission.

Both teams made late runs and fought off set points with the Wildcats eventually winning 28-26.

Unfortunately for the Lady Lancers (5-6, 0-2 Crossroads League), their momentum ran out after that first set.

In the opening set, the Wildcats jumped out to an early 12-7 advantage. But a well-placed timeout from Grace coach Katie Van Hofwegen gave Grace a boost, allowing the Lady Lancers to score four straight points and force an IWU timeout.

The lead changed hands late until Grace used a 6-2 run to claim a 24-22 advantage. But IWU survived two set points and eventually edged out the Lady Lancers 28-26.

Midway into the second set, the Wildcats pulled away and wound up with a 25-17 victory. The Wildcats enjoyed 12 kills on just two attack errors in the set, hitting at a .370 percentage.

The third set was similar to the second as Grace struggled to keep pace with the Wildcats. The Lady Lancers' offense sputtered, committing nine attack errors and hitting at a .000 percentage.

IWU's attack had 40 kills at a .275 clip for the match compared to 34 kills at a .175 rate for Grace. Savannah Hart was a lone bright spot on offense for Grace with nine kills on a .571 percentage.

Sierra Smith finished with nine kills at a .318 rate, and Kari Feddema tallied 4 kills, 1 solo and 3 block assists.

Caylie Teel tied for match honors with 18 digs, and Taylor Baird handed out 28 assists.

"Against a talented team like IWU, we really need the whole team pulling together as one. And we didn't play as one unit tonight," Van Hofwegen said. "We have some things we will work on in practice, and we'll prepare for a better effort over the weekend."

The Lady Lancers will travel to rival Bethel on Friday at 7 p.m. before returning home on Saturday to host Goshen at 3 p.m.