WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's volleyball team thrilled its home crowd with a dramatic 3-2 win over rival Taylor on Friday.

The Lancers won the first two sets, eventually securing the crucial victory in the fifth set at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.

Grace maintained its hot start to the season, improving to 12-2 on the back of its fifth straight win. Grace also remained unbeaten (3-0) in Crossroads League play after beating the Trojans, who are receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. 

In the first set, Taylor scored five straight points to erase Grace's early lead. Grace quickly recovered to pull back in front by three.

The Lancers maintained their cushion and held on late; Katie Swanson earned the final kill as Grace won 25-22.

Sahara Bee was dominant with five kills on just nine swings. Alisha Leffring was equally unstoppable with four kills on seven attempts.

In the second set, Taylor climbed in front 16-13 as Grace's offense began slowly. But the Lancers rallied soon after with an 8-2 run.

The Trojans were resilient and ripped off four late points to jump ahead 22-21.

The teams traded kills after that as the set went to extra points. Taylor survived two set points but could not survive a third; Riley Owens's ace won the set at 27-25.

Leffring racked up five more kills in the set.

The Trojans surged ahead to begin the third set, bolstered by three straight block points. Grace burned an early timeout, but TU continued to roll with a 17-8 lead.

Grace began to show signs of life with four straight points, forcing a Taylor timeout.

The Lancers played evenly for the rest of the set, but the damage was already done as Taylor won 25-16.

Taylor's momentum carried into the fourth set as the Trojans propelled ahead 16-11.

Grace showed resolve, closing the gap to one at 19-18. But Taylor executed down the stretch, forcing a fifth set with a 25-22 win.

The fifth set began with the teams exchanging points. Grace took the lead at the midway mark with an 8-7 advantage.

On the next play, Livia Tate got the crowd on its feet with an alert play, placing a kill at the back corner of the court.

The score was knotted at 11-11, but Leffring swatted home a kill to give Grace the lead for good.

Two more attack errors were followed by the winning swing from Leffring, an appropriate nod to Leffring's outstanding evening. Grace clinched the match with a 15-11 win.

Leffring racked up 15 kills on just one error for a .452 percentage. She also added 10 block assists. She tied a career high with her 10 block assists and was one kill off her personal best.

Swanson produced 11 kills, 1 solo block and 5 block assists, Bee had nine kills and two block assists, and Ross finished with 8 kills, 16 digs and 3 block assists.

Anna Ballengee ended the match with seven kills, and Paige Vander Goot had two aces and three digs.

Owens tallied 23 assists, 7 digs and 2 aces, and Morgan Syoen had 23 assists, 5 digs and 2 kills.

Defensively, Liz Schmidt led Grace with 22 digs, and McKenzie Stanley chipped in 12 digs.

The Lancers will quickly return home with a 3 p.m. Saturday match against St. Francis.