MISHAWAKA, Ind. - Grace's volleyball team began its third nonconference tournament of the season on Friday at Bethel.

The Lady Lancers split a doubleheader, falling in three to Cumberland before outlasting Trinity Christian in five to end the day.

The Lady Lancers began Friday's opener hot, scoring the first eight points of the match against Cumberland. Jadyn Ross's sharp serving kept the Phoenix off balance, forcing an early timeout by CU. Ross had two aces and a kill during the opening run.

The Phoenix responded well and managed to quickly tie the score at 10-10. They eventually pulled ahead 19-17.

But a well-placed timeout helped Grace recover, allowing the Lady Lancers to rattle off four straight points.

Cumberland would not fade, however, and the set went to extra points. Sahara Bee staved off one set point with a kill, but CU made plays late to win 27-25.

The Phoenix continued their strong play with a six-point win in the second set, tallying 15 kills to take a commanding lead.

Grace was not prepared to go down without a fight in the third set. The Lady Lancers forged ahead to an 18-15 advantage and eventually grabbed a 24-21 lead. But CU had the final say, winning five straight points to secure the sweep.

Alisha Leffring had nine kills to lead Grace's attack, and Ross added 7 kills, 2 aces and 2 block assists.

The nightcap against Trinity Christian was a wild back-and-forth affair. Grace quickly seized control of the match by winning the first two sets 25-20 and 25-10.

The Lady Lancers held the Trolls to just 10 kills across the first two sets.

Grace tried to close out Trinity in each of the next two sets, but each time the Trolls survived.

In the third and fourth sets, Trinity won in extra points. The Trolls were victorious 27-25 in the third and 28-26 in the fourth, sending the match to a winner-take-all fifth set.

The fifth set was hotly contested. Ross gave Grace a two-point edge late with a kill. Cassadi Colbert took care of the rest with kills for Grace's 14th and 15th points as Grace won 15-12.

The Lady Lancers end the tournament on Saturday with two more matches, including Campbellsville (11 a.m.) and IU Kokomo (1 p.m.).