SPRING ARBOR, Mich. - Grace's volleyball team won its third consecutive conference match on Saturday in dramatic fashion.

The NAIA No. 21-ranked Lancers rallied to beat Spring Arbor 3-2 on Saturday afternoon, staying calm to erase SAU's upset bid.

Grace began the match with authority, pounding the Cougars 25-12 in the opening set. The Lancers (9-2, 3-1 Crossroads League) jumped ahead 8-1 to begin the match, sparked by three kills apiece from Anna Elkin and Alisha Voss.

Grace poured in 16 kills in the dominant first set, the team's best output of the match.

But the Cougars stormed back to win the second and third sets, putting Grace on upset alert.

SAU's offense was electric in the second set, amassing 19 kills in a 25-17 win.

Grace had the more dynamic offense in the third set, outhitting SAU 14 kills to 10. But the Lancers hindered their own cause with 13 attack errors.

The Cougars won the third set 25-20, setting up a must-win fourth set for Grace.

Grace won five of the first six points to begin the fourth set and climbed ahead 8-2. 

The Cougars clawed back to cut the deficit to three at 17-14, but Grace countered with a kill from Sahara Bee and a block from Elkin and Voss to regain momentum. The Lancers went on to win by seven, setting up a dramatic fifth set.

The tiebreaker started in SAU's favor. The Cougars rattled off a 6-1 lead, forcing a timeout from head coach Katie Hill.

The timeout did its job as Grace swiftly rebounded. The Lancers won four straight points, sparked by an ace from McKenzie Stakely and a kill from Voss.

Grace still trailed 9-5 a few plays later, but the squad produced four unanswered points to tie the score. Leah Henderson was critical in that stretch with a kill and a block on back-to-back points.

SAU scored again on the next play to take the lead, but the rest of the set belonged to Grace.

The Lancers won six of the final seven points, pulling away to win 15-11 to secure the victory. Riley Owens had an ace and a kill during the final spurt.

Grace ended the fifth set on a 14-5 run to collect the win.

Elkin led all players with 14 kills on a .206 percentage, and Voss added 13 kills, 3 solo blocks and 3 block assists.

Both of Grace's setters had double-doubles, including 23 assists and 12 digs from Owens and 19 assists and 17 digs from Morgan Syoen.

Bee finished with nine kills, Jadyn Ross had eight kills and six digs, and Anna Ballengee chipped in six kills and five digs.

Defensively, Grace was led by Liz Schmidt (24 digs), Stakely (20 digs), Olivia Martinez (15 digs) and Livia Tate (1 solo block, 2 block assists).

The Lancers are home twice next week, including Wednesday at 7 p.m. against St. Francis and Saturday at 1 p.m. against Bethel.