POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - Grace College's volleyball team completed a perfect week in pool play at NCCAA Nationals with a 3-1 win over Ohio Christian on Thursday afternoon.

As a result, Grace won its pool and clinched a spot in the NCCAA national semifinals. The Lancers (18-16) will play the semifinal match at 6 p.m. (Central Time) on Friday night. They will battle the No. 8 seed Sterling, who have made a Cinderella run to the semifinals.

The Lancers had another player reach an individual milestone as Anna Elkin eclipsed 500 career kills.

It marks the third straight year for Grace to make a semifinal appearance at the NCCAA National Championships under head coach Katie Hill. 

Thursday night's match between Grace and Ohio Christian determined the Pool B winner; each team entered the match with a 2-0 record in pool play.

On Thursday night, Grace's defense stifled the Trailblazers throughout the match. OCU was neutralized to a .006 hitting percentage as a team.

Grace and OCU battled back and forth in the opening set. A kill from Molly Hofmann opened the frame, but the teams were neck-and-neck through the early stages.

The Trailblazers worked ahead 11-8; but four kills for the Lancers, including two from Levyn Snow, catapulted the two-time defending champions back into the lead.

The teams were even at 14 apiece before Grace went on a furious run to end the set.

The Lancers scored 11 of the final 15 points, including an unanswered run of seven consecutive points, and took the opener 25-18.

Grace fell into an early hole in the second set; OCU scored nine of the first 10 points. The Lancers kept pace for the rest of the set, but the damage was already done. The Trailblazers evened the match with a 25-16 win.

In the third set it was Grace's turn to take an early advantage. The Lancers raced out to a 7-1 lead.

The Trailblazers attempted to rally and pulled within three at 18-15. But Olivia Martinez helped steady the Lancers with two kills in a row. Liz Schmidt then ended the set with an ace as Grace won 25-18.

In the fifth set the Lancers raced out to a 9-4 edge. Leah Henderson had two kills, and Reagan Owens served an ace to help build the lead.

Grace's lead grew to as many as seven points; the Lancers seemed to be on their way to a convincing set victory before the Trailblazers began clawing back.

OCU edged ahead 19-18 and had momentum on its side. Livia Tate evened the score at 19 which seemed to settle the Lancers.

Martinez had two kills, and Carsyn Witt had a service ace to put Grace on the verge of victory. 

The game ended on another service ace as Martinez clinched the match for Grace.

Schmidt amassed 31 digs, 5 assists and 3 aces, and Martinez led Grace's attack with 9 kills, 13 digs and 2 aces.

Snow notched nine kills with eight digs, Henderson had seven kills and two block assists, and Hofmann added seven kills with four digs.

Reese McCutchan (23 assists, 12 digs) and Witt (18 assists, 6 digs) directed the offense.

Tate (1 solo block, 2 block assists, 6 digs), Liz Schmidt (31 digs), Emma Blackford (14 digs) and Callie Jo Celichowski (3 block assists) were defensive standouts.