MARION, Ind. - For the second time this season, Grace's volleyball team and Indiana Wesleyan went to five sets.
And for the second time, the home team came away with the win.
On Wednesday night, No. 12 Indiana Wesleyan produced a 3-2 win over No. 20 Grace to wrap up the regular season.
The result means Grace finishes third in the Crossroads League. The Lancers will host sixth-seed Marian in the quarterfinals of the CL Tournament on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Grace started the match hot before IWU capitalized down the stretch, rallying for a comeback win.
The tone was set from the very first game. The Wildcats opened up an 8-4 lead, but Grace swiftly countered to even the score at 10s thanks to back-to-back aces from Carsyn Witt.
IWU reasserted a five-point edge at 16-11, and Grace had to call both timeouts as the Wildcats still led 20-15.
But the Lancers flipped the script, taking six of the next seven rallies to tie the score at 21-21. Anna Elkin had a pair of kills, and Reagan Owens aced.
IWU again tried to pull away, winning three points in a row to grab a 24-21 advantage.
Grace showed resolve, however, staving off three set points with a kill from Callie Jo Celichowski and two more from Savannah Clawson.
Clawson added another kill a few plays later as Grace sped away for a 27-25 win in the opener.
Grace's momentum seemed to boost the squad into the second set. IWU scored the first point, but Grace scored the next eight. Clawson had a pair of kills and a block, and Grace Bowers served up three consecutive aces.
The Lancers kept the Wildcats at bay for the rest of the set, cruising away for a dominant 25-15 victory. Grace's team hit at a .343 percentage in the second set, the highest total for any side during the match.
The Wildcats led early in the third set, 9-4. Grace did its best to counter, but the Lancers were never able to fully respond. IWU took the win by seven points.
The fourth set was similar. IWU grabbed a 14-8 advantage, forcing Grace to play catch-up. The Lancers did so twice, pulling to within one point at 15-14 and 19-18.
But each time Grace came close, the Wildcats strung together a few points to regain a cushion. IWU held on late to win 25-22, forcing a tiebreaking set.
The teams traded points to start the fifth, resulting in a 7-7 score. IWU then made the decisive run, producing five points in a row.
Grace played evenly with IWU for the remaining rallies, but the damage was done as the Wildcats clinched the match 15-10.
Elkin produced a massive double-double with 12 kills and 20 digs. Clawson and Molly Hofmann each finished with 11 kills.
Levyn Snow notched 10 kills on a .320 percentage, and Abby Leffring generated 8 kills, 4 solo blocks and 1 block assists.
Reese McCutchan tallied 27 assists and 15 digs, and Witt added 20 assists and 11 digs.
Owens dug 19 times, Olivia Martinez had 17 digs with two aces, and Bowers aced five times while adding four digs.
