Grace College Athletics

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Grace's volleyball team began its second tournament of the season on Friday at the Onset Invitational.

Grace fell in a hard-fought battle against No. 17 Aquinas to start the day. The Lancers then recovered to sweep Lawrence Tech in the evening's match.

Friday's victory marked a milestone in Grace head coach Katie Hill's career. Hill recorded her 200th career win at the helm of the Lancers.

In the opener, Grace gave No. 17 Aquinas everything it could handle despite the 3-0 scoreline.

The Lancers struggled at the onset, dropping nine of the first 10 points. Grace was unable to bridge the gap and lost by nine points.

Grace trailed by five midway into the second set, but the Lancers rallied to even the score at 17s thanks to kills from Carsyn Witt, Abby Leffring and Levyn Snow.

Neither side could gain separation down the stretch. Grace held off a set point at 24-23 to force extra points, but the Saints recovered to win 26-24.

Grace found itself in a hole in the third set, facing a 17-10 deficit. But the Lancers rattled off six straight points to change the momentum. Savannah Clawson had two quick kills and shared a block with Callie Jo Celichowski.

The Lancers later had to survive two match points thanks to another kill from Clawson and one from Molly Hofmann.

Grace gave Aquinas a battle in a grueling extra points session. Olivia Martinez pounded out two kills, and Celichowski added two more as Grace served for a pair of set points. But the Saints managed to sneak away with a 30-28 win to secure the match.

Snow and Clawson led Grace's offense with eight kills apiece, Reagan Owens produced a match-high 15 digs, and Witt tallied 28 assists with 11 digs.

In Friday's nightcap, Grace displayed a dominant attack to overpower LTU. The Lancers pounded out 38 kills on 12 errors for a .280 team hitting percentage.

Grace began the game hot by winning the first five points of the match. LTU continued to trail and fell behind 14-4.

Grace led by as many as 13 and won the opener 25-17.

Early into the second set, Grace rattled off six unanswered points to take control. The Lancers' onslaught continued with a 17-4 run, and Grace coasted to a 12-point win.

The third set was the most closely contested of the match. Grace started sluggishly and found itself in a 7-2 run. 

The Lancers used a pair of 4-0 spurts to climb back into contention, but LTU countered with a 5-1 run to climb in front 18-13.

But Grace charged back immediately, keyed by a pair of kills apiece from Emily Uhlmann and Anna Elkin.

Lawrence Tech had no response as Grace roared away to win 25-21. The Lancers ended the match on a 12-3 run, wrapping up the win with a kill from Celichowski.

Celichowski finished the match with eight kills on a .545 percentage, adding a solo block and two block assists.

Leah Henderson added eight kills with three block assists, Grace Bowers had three aces and seven digs, and Reese McCutchan chipped in 11 assists, 8 digs and 2 aces.

The Lancers end the tournament on Saturday with a 10:15 a.m. match against Southeastern and a 2:45 p.m. match against Brescia.