Lancers sweep Foresters for seventh-straight win
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The winning streak for Grace’s volleyball team continued with a 3-0 sweep of Huntington on Saturday.
The Lancers (13-2, 7-1 Crossroads League) were efficient, producing 10 more kills, 7 more digs and 3 more block points than the Foresters (11-8, 3-5 CL).
Grace finished the match with 43 kills on a .213 percentage; they held HU to 33 kills on a .063 percentage.
Anna Ballengee helped Grace begin the match well with two early kills. The Lancers won three of the first four points, but Huntington immediately responded with an 8-0 run to charge in front.
Grace was not fazed. The No. 19-ranked Lancers countered with a swift 9-2 run, benefitting from a trio of kills from Alisha Voss.
The Foresters managed to regain the lead midway into the set and owned a 17-14 advantage, but two kills in a row from Sahara Bee capped off a 5-0 spurt.
Bee added another kill down the stretch, and the Foresters committed four attack errors over the final few rallies to allow Grace to win 25-21.
The Lancers’ attack was relentless in the second set. Grace held a small cushion throughout the set and rolled away to a 25-17 victory.
Jadyn Ross racked up five kills on seven attempts during the set, and Anna Elkin echoed that effort with five kills of her own on seven swings.
Grace closed out the match in the third set. The Lancers led for most of the set, but the Foresters rallied to even the score at 16s.
Voss then roared to life, scoring three straight points with two blocks and a kill. Kills over the final few rallies from Callie Jo Celichowski, Leah Henderson and Brea Harris allowed the Lancers to secure the sweep with a 25-22 win.
Voss produced 9 kills, 1 solo block and 4 block assists, and Ballengee tallied nine kills with six digs.
Elkin finished with seven kills and a pair of block assists, and Riley Owens had 15 assists with 13 digs.
Bee had five kills with two block assists, Ross had six kills with three block assists, and Livia Tate added three block assists.
Blackford aced twice, and Morgan Syoen produced 17 assists with seven digs.
Grace’s back row was bolstered by nine digs apiece from Olivia Martinez and McKenzie Stakely as well as eight digs from Liz Schmidt.
The Lancers travel to No. 22 Marian on Wednesday. Grace’s next home match is Oct. 9 against the reigning NAIA national champion Indiana Wesleyan.
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