WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's volleyball team tangled with the two-time NAIA defending national champs on Wednesday night.

The young Lancers fell short, falling to No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan in three sets.

The match began with electric energy in front of a strong student section for Grace's home opener at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.

Grace responded, using three early kills from Anna Elkin and two more from Leah Henderson to jump in front 7-3. IWU was forced to burn an early timeout.

The Lancers still had momentum as a kill from Olivia Martinez pushed Grace's margin to 14-8.

The Wildcats countered with four straight points to eat away at Grace's lead. They managed to take their first lead of the set at 18-17 and charged away to a 25-20 win. 

Grace had its best offensive set in the opener with 11 kills on a .125 percentage. But the Wildcats were even better with 15 kills (.256).

IWU claimed an early 7-3 advantage in the second set. Grace stayed within range, pulling to within two multiple times.

But the Wildcats refused to surrender the lead and won by six.

Grace's offense was muted in the third set. The Lancers mustered just five kills and fell by 11 to close out the match.

Elkin produced a team-high 10 kills while adding six digs, and Liz Schmidt had 17 digs with an ace.

Livia Tate impressed with her blocking, tallying two solos and five assists. Elkin and Henderson also had two block assists.

Martinez collected eight digs, and Emma Blackford added seven.

The Lancers will stay home on Saturday for their next match. Grace will take on Goshen at 1 p.m. at the MOCC.