Grace completes massive rally to stun Goshen
GOSHEN, Ind. – After falling behind 0-2, Grace’s volleyball team showed true grit to beat Goshen on Wednesday.
The Lady Lancers (11-4, 5-2 Crossroads League) made a dramatic comeback to win in five sets on the road.
The Maple Leafs (7-11, 1-5 CL) had Grace on the ropes after winning the first two sets. Goshen broke open a 21-21 tie in the first set to win 25-21.
The second set was even closer. The teams traded leads late in the game, and the score was tied at 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26. Goshen snuck away with the win after kills on the next two rallies, taking a commanding edge in the match.
Grace responded well in the third set with a quick 11-3 lead. Their lead stayed intact throughout the game en route to a 25-16 victory.
It was a similar script in the fourth set. Grace grabbed an 11-5 cushion and never surrendered it. The match went to a tiebreaker after Grace won 25-18.
In the fifth set, Grace scored four unanswered points to open up a 7-3 edge. The sides battled back in a manner worthy of a five-setter; each team had a 4-0 spurt to keep the score close.
Goshen faced a 12-8 deficit but rallied with four straight points to force a Grace timeout.
The timeout by Grace head coach Katie Van Hofwegen seemed to pan out as the Lady Lancers recovered. A timely kill by Makaela Lochmueller gave Grace the lead for good, and Makayla Bell ended the match 15-12 with an ace.
Kelsee Zuidema’s 18 kills led all players, Caylie Teel racked up another double-double with 17 kills and 15 digs, and Alexa Hill also had a double-double with 49 assists, 10 digs and 3 kills.
Lochmueller finished with 12 kills on 22 attempts for a .455 percentage to go along with five block assists, and Gina Novotny (23 digs) and Deborah Michalski (13 digs) were sharp on defense.
The Lady Lancers end the week with a pair of home matches. Grace hosts Bethel on Friday at 7 p.m. and Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday at 3 p.m.