WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's volleyball team battled tough against another ranked opponent on Wednesday.

The Lancers lost in straight sets against No. 16 Mt. Vernon Nazarene, but the teams grappled fiercely across the match.

MVNU started the first set with three straight points. Grace quickly responded with two early kills from Molly Hofmann to jumpstart the Lancers' offense. 

Grace pulled ahead 9-6 and kept a lead until midway into the set. 

The Cougars benefitted from strong serving to go on a 10-3 run, surging ahead by three.

Grace did its best to rally back with late kills from Livia Tate, Levyn Snow and Hofmann, but the Cougars maintained their margin and won 25-21.

The Lancers fell behind early again in the second set. MVNU scored the first six points and raced off to a 9-1 start.

Olivia Martinez helped Grace get back on track with a kill and a service ace on back-to-back plays. The Cougars would not be denied in the set, however, pulling away to a nine-point win.

Grace trailed early again in the third set, facing a 10-4 deficit. The Cougars were in prime position with a 21-13 lead.

But Grace found momentum late, making the team's first big run of the match. Grace rattled off seven unanswered points, aided by a kill from Hofmann and Martinez as well as an ace by Anna Elkin.

Grace tied the score 22-22 before the Cougars scored twice to serve for match point. The Lancers survived two match points to tie the score 24-24.

MVNU made plays when it mattered, however, registering kills on the final two plays to win the set in extra points (26-24) and finish off the match.

Hofmann led all players with 13 kills on a .407 percentage, adding two block assists and four digs.

Liz Schmidt had a match-high 31 digs, and Carsyn Witt notched a double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs.

Elkin collected eight kills with six digs, Snow had five kills, Martinez tallied three kills and eight digs, and Callie Jo Celichowski added four block assists.

The Lancers will hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Huntington for a 1 p.m. clash. Grace is back home on Oct. 1 for a 6 p.m. match against Marian.