INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Grace's volleyball team dropped a tightly contested match to close out the regular season on Wednesday night.
The Lancers lost 3-1 to Marian, a team who is receiving votes in the NAIA poll. Two of Marian's set wins came in extra points.
To begin the match, Grace surged ahead 10-5. Anna Elkin provided a pair of kills, and Callie Jo Celichowski had a kill and a block.
But the Knights seized the lead with seven straight points and never trailed again. MU later went on another run (8-0) to open up a wider gap, coasting to a 25-15 win.
The teams traded small runs in the second set; Marian shifted in front 17-14, but Grace quickly battled back thanks to three kills in quick succession from Leah Henderson.
Grace then pulled in front and served for the set (24-23) after a kill by Molly Hofmann. The Knights recovered with back-to-back kills, later adding two more to close out the win in extra points by the score of 28-26.
In the third set, Grace trailed 10-6 in the opening stages but clawed back to even the score at 17s. Henderson produced three more kills across four rallies to spark Grace's attack.
Grace next used a 5-0 run to create separation, led by three unanswered kills from Elkin, allowing Grace to ease away to a six-point win.
Grace's offense was red hot in the third set. The Lancers racked up 15 kills on just two errors (.333).
Marian began the fourth set with momentum, however. The Knights built up a 13-7 lead, forcing Grace to use an early timeout.
The Lancers steadily ate into Marian's lead, rallying to within one at 21-20.
The Knights clung to the lead and served for the match with a 24-22 advantage. Grace showed resolve, using thunderous kills from Livia Tate and Elkin to respond and even served set point at 25-24.
Marian's offense closed the match, however. The Knights earned kills on three straight plays down the stretch, winning 27-25 to wrap up the win.
Elkin posted a double-double of 17 kills and 10 digs to go along with two aces, and Henderson amassed 14 kills (.289 percentage) with four block assists.
Tate tallied 5 kills, 1 solo block and 5 block assists, and Reese McCutchan racked up 37 assists, 13 digs and 3 kills.
Liz Schmidt led all players with 34 digs, and Olivia Martinez added 10 digs.
Grace will shift its attention next to the postseason. The Lancers will travel to top-seeded Indiana Wesleyan in the quarterfinals of the Crossroads League Tournament; first serve is set for 5 p.m.
