WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's volleyball team produced a statement victory on Saturday afternoon.
The No. 23 Lancers outplayed No. 19 Mt. Vernon Nazarene, winning 3-1 at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
The win improves Grace to a 14-1 record over its last 15 matches. The Lancers (17-3, 5-1 Crossroads League) are tied with Indiana Wesleyan for the first place in the league standings.
Saturday's showdown could not have started any brighter for the Lancers. Grace employed a dominant offense in the opening set, racking up 15 kills on just two errors.
Grace Bowers had two service aces over the first five rallies, helping Grace to a fast 4-1 start.
The Cougars (15-7, 4-2 CL) had no answer for Grace, burning an early timeout. Levyn Snow had two kills in short succession, and Reagan Owens served up a pair of aces as well.
Grace led 15-4 and strolled away to a 25-12 victory.
The second set began evenly. MVNU inched ahead with a 4-0 spurt but still only led by two at 16-14.
The Cougars ripped off six unanswered points late in the set. Grace did its best to respond with five points in a row, including two straight aces from Carsyn Witt. But it was too little, too late as Grace lost by five.
The teams traded small runs in the third set, leading to a tie game at 15s. A kill from Savannah Clawson and an ace from Reese McCutchan helped create breathing room, but the Cougars rallied to within one at 22-21.
Anna Elkin produced a timely kill to stop MVNU's momentum, and Clawson ended the set with a kill as Grace held on for a key 25-23 win.
The fourth set again was hotly contested until the midway mark. The score was even at 14-14, but Grace was about to take the lead for good.
Grace used kills from Elkin, Molly Hofmann and Callie Jo Celichowski, along with two aces from Witt, to score six unanswered points.
MVNU used its final timeout, but the damage was already done. Grace ended the match with a block from Clawson and Abby Leffring, handing Grace its third ranked win of the season.
Both teams had efficient offensive showings with Grace racking up 60 kills on a .275 percentage, and MVNU tallying 50 kills at a .230 clip.
The Lancers had a major edge in serving, amassing 12 aces, and Grace had seven more digs as well.
Grace's offense was balanced as usual with six players tallying at least seven kills. Elkin (14 kills, 7 digs), Hofmann (12 kills), Snow (10), Celichowski (8), Clawson (8) and Leffring (7) shared the offensive opportunities.
Owens amassed a huge 33-dig performance to go along with three aces, and Olivia Martinez added 10 digs.
Witt (24 assists, 4 aces) and McCutchan (23 assists, 9 digs) proved to be dynamic across the court.
The Lancers will head to Bethel on Wednesday for their next match. Grace will then be home for two matches, including Sept. 26 against Goshen and Sept. 30 against IWU.
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