Grace spikers sweep Goshen to end regular season
GOSHEN, Ind. — Grace’s volleyball team earned its second straight sweep in its last regular season game at Goshen on Wednesday night.
The Lady Lancers (20-14, 12-6 Crossroads League) had to go above and beyond to earn the victory as two of the three games went into extra points. Grace’s defense was the key to the game as they held the Maple Leafs to just a .095 percentage; this included giving up only three kills the entire second set.
Grace’s attack was running at high efficiency during the first set, finishing with a .220 percentage. The set consisted of several lead changes with three points being the highest advantage of the game. Late in the set, the Lady Lancers were trailing 22-19. Things looked bleak until Naarah Foster scored four uninterrupted points during a 5-0 Grace run.
Goshen (12-19, 4-14 CL) still led the game 26-25, but an attack error kept Grace alive. Savannah Hart ended the match with two kills to give the Lady Lancers a 28-26 victory.
Grace had little trouble coming away with the win in the second set. An 8-0 run in the middle of the set gave the Lady Lancers a 14-7 lead, and they did not look back. The set ended on a 3-0 run, including two kills by Gabbey Harringtonwhich resulted in a 25-13 win.
The third set of the match featured intense competition. Goshen quickly got out to an 8-3 lead, determined to stay alive. The Lady Lancers crawled their way back with a 5-1 run to tie the set at nine.
Neither team was able to build a large lead from that point on. Grace was facing defeat when the Maple Leafs took a 26-25 lead; however, two quick points flipped the game to Grace’s favor. A kill by Kelsee Zuidema put the exclamation point on a 29-27 win, sealing the sweep.
Zuidema led the attack for the Lady Lancers, finishing with a team-high 21 kills along with two block assists. Hart and Sierra Smith contributed seven kills each.
Kari Feddema led Grace’s front line with three block assists. Sara Miller tallied 20 digs in the match; Gina Novotny was not far behind with 12 digs of her own. Alexa Hill capped off her stellar regular season with 47 assists.
Grace will look to carry the momentum from this game into its Crossroads League quarterfinal matchup on Saturday. The Lady Lancers, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, will host Huntington at 5 p.m. at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.