MARION, Ind. - Grace's volleyball team came up short in a marquee match on Wednesday night.

No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan took down No. 21 Grace in straight sets to kick off the Crossroads League season.

Grace began the match sluggishly. Three early attacking errors allowed IWU to grab a fast 5-1 advantage.

The Lancers (6-2, 0-1 CL) were not fazed, however. Grace ripped off five straight points to jump in front, aided by three kills from Anna Ballengee.

The teams could barely be separated with the score being tied at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.

The Wildcats used a pivotal 5-0 spurt to gain separation, helped by a few attack errors. Grace was unable to bridge that gap and fell 25-18.

Grace hit at a .111 percentage as a team with seven attack errors; IWU had 16 kills at a .216 clip in comparison.

The Lancers' attack was much more efficient in the second set. Grace had three more kills than IWU in the set, racking up 16 as a team.

The score remained close practically throughout the second set. The Wildcats (8-2, 1-0 CL) tried to pull away with an 18-14 edge, but Grace countered with kills from Jadyn Ross and Sahara Bee to pull within one at 20-19, which forced an IWU timeout.

The Wildcats scored two quick points out of the timeout to earn a small cushion, which was enough to keep Grace at bay. IWU squeezed out the 25-22 win to grab control.

In the third set, the Lancers found themselves in an early hole. Grace trailed by as many as six at 12-6.

Grace continued to battle, however. A pair of kills from Anna Elkin helped boost the Lancers, and Alisha Voss added two more kills to slice the deficit to two.

The Wildcats were forced to call timeout to slow Grace's momentum, and the reset worked. Grace managed just one more point down the stretch as IWU closed out the match on a 7-1 run.

Grace's offense was at its most quiet in the third set with nine kills on a .048 percentage.

For the match, Grace had six fewer kills and six more attack errors than IWU. Defensively the teams had identical blocking numbers, but Grace had seven more digs.

Liz Schmidt led all players with 17 digs, and Morgan Syoen had a double-double with 20 assists and 13 digs.

Voss finished with a team-high nine kills and four block assists, hitting at a .333 percentage.

Ross collected 7 kills, 6 digs and 3 block assists, and Bee and Ballengee each added six kills.

McKenzie Stakely produced eight digs, and Riley Owens tallied 11 assists and six digs.

The Lancers remain on the road this Saturday for a 1 p.m. match at Goshen.