WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace’s volleyball team made quick work of Goshen on Saturday.
The No. 14 Lancers (16-5, 9-2 Crossroads League) swept the Maple Leafs in convincing fashion.
Grace racked up 13 more kills than Goshen while hitting at a .220 percentage as a team. Grace also had 12 more digs and three more block points.
The first set was a dominant showing for Grace. Anna Ballengee ripped off four early kills as the Lancers quickly built up a 12-4 lead.
The Maple Leafs (6-21, 1-10 CL) had no answer and fell 25-12. Ballengee (six kills) had nearly as many kills as Goshen (7) during the opening set.
In the second set, Grace did not waste time in doubling up Goshen. The Maple Leafs pieced together some momentum late to cut Grace’s lead to four, but the Lancers shut the door thanks to Brea Harris’s kill as Grace won 25-20.
Harris had four kills on just six swings during the set.
Grace turned to its bench in the third set, allowing its reserves to earn key experience.
The Maple Leafs earned the first advantage with an 8-5 lead. But Emma Blackford helped Grace get back on track with back-to-back service aces.
Soon after, the Lancers strung together five unanswered points to help Grace build up a cushion.
Down the stretch, Grace used kills from Claire Jackson, Harris and Callie Jo Celichowski to hold off the Maple Leafs. The Lancers secured the sweep with a 25-21 victory.
Harris tied for the team lead with eight kills on 14 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage, adding three digs and a block assist.
Ballengee also had eight kills on a .421 percentage across two sets.
Jadyn Ross produced six kills on a .417 percentage, and Livia Tate had five kills and four block assists.
Celichowski (4 kills, 2 block assists), Alisha Voss (4 kills, .300 percentage) and Leah Henderson (three kills) also contributed to a balanced offensive afternoon.
Morgan Syoen collected a double-double with 14 digs and 11 assists, and Riley Owens added 12 assists and seven digs.
Liz Schmidt added 14 digs, Olivia Martinez had seven digs, and Blackford had four digs with two aces.
Next week, the Lancers will play at Taylor on Wednesday before returning home on Saturday for a 1 p.m. match against Spring Arbor. Saturday’s match will also be Grace’s Senior Day to honor the graduating class.

Grace Shuts Out Cougars
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Grace College’s men’s soccer team picked up a 1-0 win over the St. Francis Cougars on Saturday night.
With the win, the Lancers (4-6-2, 3-2 Crossroads League) moved into fourth place in the conference standings at the midpoint of the Crossroads League schedule.
The lone goal of Saturday's contest was scored by Josh Cruz whose game-winning goal was his first marker of the season.
The first half of the game was controlled by the Cougars (6-7-1, 0-4-1 CL).
USF had a pair of dangerous chances just moments into the game. Matteo Conci was forced to make a save three minutes into the contest and the Cougars again narrowly missed scoring minutes later with a shot that went off the post.
The Cougars continued to pressure the Lancers defense, forcing another save from Conci and an impressive defensive effort from Gavin Morgan to maintain the scoreless tie.
At the halftime break USF held a 7-2 shot advantage and had two corner kicks while the Lancers had none.
Grace came out of the gate on fire in the second half with a pair of near misses. Santos Rosa had a chance tail just wide and moments later Sebastian Lozano threaded a perfect pass through traffic to Julian Saldivar whose point blank shot was denied by a kick save from the Cougar’s keeper.
The Lancers possessed the ball at a higher rate in the second half, evening the offensive chances. The Cougars first shot of the half didn’t come until the 60 minute mark, with a try that was chipped over goal.
The Cougars shot seemed to swing momentum back in their favor as they peppered the Lancers with chances over the next 10-minutes.
The game’s first goal was scored on a quick counter attack by Grace. Juan Garcia made a wide run with the ball and sliced the ball to the center of the pitch to Cruz who hesitated momentarily before sending the ball into the back of the net to give Grace the 1-0 lead with 15 minutes remaining in regulation.
Grace’s defense held steady down the stretch fending off a furious effort from the Cougars to draw even down the stretch including one in the waning seconds that Conci punched clear to secure the 1-0 win for Grace.
Grace finished the game being outshot 11-5, while Conci made five saves to secure the clean-sheet victory. The Lancers will return to action on Wednesday with a trip to Spring Arbor.

Lancers Battle To Scoreless Draw
WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace’s women’s soccer team finished in a 0-0 draw with St. Francis on Saturday.
The Lancers controlled Saturday’s match, both in terms of possession and shot attempts, but Grace had to settle with sharing the points in the league standings.
Grace, who is receiving votes in the NAIA poll, outshot USF 16-2. The Lancers (9-2-2, 1-2-2 Crossroads League) also possessed the ball for the majority of the match.
Grace began the match fluidly, passing the ball around the pitch for three minutes uninterrupted.
The Lancers stayed on the Cougars’ half of the field for seemingly the whole half. Rosalie Gefrorer had Grace’s first shot which went wide of the goal.
Ten minutes into the match, Lilli Oberhoff dribbled toward the top of the box and fired a hard shot that forced a diving save.
The Lancers had two corner kicks and several crosses into the box, continuing to keep pressure on USF.
Cassidy Felger had another dangerous shot inside the penalty box that glanced off the goalpost, and Audrey Abel’s low pass in front of the goal rolled harmlessly wide.
The Cougars (8-2-4, 1-2-2 CL) had just one shot attempt over the first half, a deep attempt that was well wide.
The Lancers owned at least 70 percent of the time on the ball in the first half but were unable to find the back of the net.
The match entered halftime in a scoreless draw. Grace had seven of the eight shot attempts in the half and four of the five corner kicks.
Grace picked up where it left off to begin the second half. Shots from Madelief Lowik and Rosalie Gefrorer were saved by the goalkeeper.
With 16 minutes to play, Abel created space and rifled a shot towards goal; the shot was bobbled and eventually saved before crossing the goal line by the keeper.
But the Cougars continued to defend resolutely; USF defended with numbers to keep the penalty box stuffed with defenders.
Grace advanced into the box multiple times over the final frantic minutes, but the Lancers were unable to generate a late game winner.
The Lancers finished the match with a 16-2 shot advantage. The Cougars had zero shots on goal. Grace also had a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Ivy Cline collected the shutout in goal for Grace. She did not need to make a save after being protected well by Jasmin Slump, Oberhoff, Zoe Mueller and Liz Maciejewski.
Gefrorer tallied four shots for Grace, and Felger had three.
The Lancers will be home again on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. showdown with No. 8 Spring Arbor at 1st Source Bank Field.