SPRING ARBOR, Mich. - Grace's volleyball team could not complete the comeback on the road on Saturday.

The Lancers fell 3-1 at Spring Arbor as they were unable to recover from a two-set deficit in the Crossroads League bout.

Grace finished the match with 13 more kills than the Cougars (55 to 42), but the Lancers racked up 33 attack errors to hurt their cause.

SAU scored the first three points of the match and kept a slight lead until the end of the set. Grace stayed within range throughout the set, never trailing by more than five.

The Lancers made a late push to pull within two at 22-20, but the Cougars closed the door with three straight points to claim the opener 25-20.

The Cougars started in front in the second set, but Grace forced a SAU timeout with four straight points. Livia Tate had a kill, which was followed by an ace from Riley Owens. 

Grace took its first lead of the match at 9-8 thanks to a kill from Anna Ballengee. Late in the set, however, SAU snuck ahead 20-15.

Grace responded furiously, slicing the deficit to one. Jadyn Ross produced two quick kills which put Grace ahead 22-21, but SAU countered and served for the set at 24-23.

Grace survived one set point thanks to a block from Alisha Leffring and Sahara Bee, but a Grace service error and an SAU kill led the Cougars to a 26-24 victory.

In the third set, Grace refused to lose. The Cougars tried to end the match with a 17-12 lead, but Grace responded with an 8-2 charge to grab a one-point lead. Leffring had two timely kills during Grace's run.

Across the final points, Grace found clutch kills from Morgan Syoen, Katie Swanson and Ross as well as a solo block from Tate. The Lancers held on to win the third set 25-23.

The Lancers began the fourth set ahead, garnering an 8-4 lead. The Cougars seized control, however, with a pivotal 8-0 run. Five of those points came from attacking errors by Grace.

Grace chased the Cougars for the rest of the set and were never able to close the gap. The Cougars ended the match with a 25-20 win.

Ross had an impressive double-double with 10 kills and a match-high 21 digs. Leffring paced Grace's offense with 12 kills, 2 solo blocks and 3 block assists.

Swanson finished with 11 kills, Ballengee tallied six kills and five digs, and Tate and Bee each had six kills.

Owens had 23 assists, 4 digs, 3 aces and 2 kills, and Syoen had 19 assists, 17 digs, 2 kills and 2 aces.

Stakely notched 16 assists and two aces, and Paige Vander Goot had nine digs and an assist.

After playing on the road for three matches this week, Grace will get to return home twice next week. On Wednesday Grace will host No. 25 Mt. Vernon Nazarene, and Grace will host Huntington on Friday. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.