MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - The comeback crew for Grace’s volleyball team struck again on Wednesday.
The No. 19-ranked Lancers faced a daunting 2-0 deficit on the road at No. 16 Mt. Vernon Nazarene.
But Grace engineered a dramatic rally, stunning the home crowd to win 3-2. The reverse sweep was Grace’s fourth comeback victory of the season.
The Lancers (12-2, 6-1 Crossroads League) have won six matches in a row, propelling the squad into sole possession of second place in the league standings.
In the opening set, MVNU held a slight edge in the latter portions before Grace rallied to tie the score at 22-22. But the Cougars (17-2, 5-2 CL) executed down the stretch, winning the final three points to claim the opener 25-22.
MVNU stifled Grace’s attack in the second set. Grace mustered just seven kills (.000 percentage) in the set; the Cougars won 25-17 and put themselves seemingly in control of the match.
But Grace had other plans. The Lancers began the third set with five unanswered points, including two straight kills from Sahara Bee and an ace from Olivia Martinez.
Later in the set, the Cougars used a 7-1 spurt to pull in front 14-13. The teams traded small runs over the next few minutes until the score was even at 21s.
Grace’s offense came alive down the stretch. Jadyn Ross was responsible for three of Grace’s final five kills, including the final kill as the Lancers won 25-22.
The Lancers repeated their hot start in the fourth set by going up 5-0. Grace led by as many as nine in the set and coasted to a 25-18 victory to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
The sides exchanged points in the nervy tiebreaker. MVNU owned a 10-9 lead before a kill by Bee tied the score at 10-10.
Grace then turned to dynamic server Emma Blackford, and the junior helped spark four more points in a row. Blackford aced, and Alisa Voss had a kill and a block.
Two timeouts from the Cougars could not stop Grace’s comeback dreams, and the Lancers pulled away to win 15-11. Grace’s defense allowed just one kill over the final seven rallies.
Bee was dominant with 16 kills on a .379 percentage to go along with four block assists.
Voss also had four block assists to go along with 13 kills on a .444 percentage.
Livia Tate tallied 6 kills, 2 solo blocks and 6 block assists to power Grace’s blocking efforts.
Ross finished with 9 kills, 4 digs and 2 block assists, Anna Elkin provided seven kills with four digs, and Anna Ballengee had six kills with seven digs.
Morgan Syoen amassed 41 digs with 1 ace, 2 block assists and 5 digs.
Liz Schmidt ended the match with 21 assists and two aces, McKenzie Stakely added 15 digs, and Martinez tallied 13 digs with an ace.
The Lancers return home on Saturday for a 1 p.m. showdown with Huntington.

Lancers Drop CL Opener
WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace College’s men’s soccer team fell to Mt. Vernon 2-0 on Wednesday night at 1st Source Bank Field.
The game was the Crossroads League opener for both teams and had the intensity of two familiar foes going head-to head.
The Lancers (1-5-2, 0-1-0 CL) were fast out of the gate and nearly took an early lead when Kyle Holwerda chipped the ball over the Cougars keeper. The ball traveled just high though, bouncing off the crossbar and harmlessly out of bounds.
Just moments later the Cougars (4-1-4, 1-0-0 CL) took advantage of a ball that the Lancers were unable to settle in their own end. MVNU’s Zach Bowser capitalized on the opportunity and blasted the ball into Grace’s net to push the Cougars ahead eight minutes into the contest.
The Lancers were undeterred by the early MVNU mark and continued to press offensively generating a plethora of chances.
Joao Pereira and Juan Garcia each had shots that tested the Cougars keeper, but each time he was up to task.
The Cougars doubled their off of a lightning quick counter attack which was finished off by Bowser for his 10th goal of the year which ranks him third in the NAIA.
Trailing by two goals the Lancers continued to search for their first marker of the game. Grace had a golden opportunity in the waning moments of the half but had a pair of point blank opportunities blocked by sprawling defenders as MVNU carried the 2-0 advantage into halftime.
At the halftime intermission Grace was outshooting MVNU 10-5 and held a 5-0 lead in corner kicks.
Grace carried the pace of play in the second of the game as they desperately searched for an offensive spark.
Gavin Morgan had a pair of shots just seven minutes into the half but each try was snuffed out by MVNU’s goalie.
With 30 minutes to go in the game, Garcia had a well hit free kick that knuckled toward the net, but again the Grace opportunity was denied before entering the goal.
Chances piled up for the Lancers across the middle portion of the half as Morgan narrowly sliced a shot wide off of a corner kick opportunity.
Garcia and Holwerda continued the barrage on goal with a flurry of chances but neither player could solve the Cougars’ defense as Grace remained scoreless.
Vasco Tavares had Grace's last chance on goal but he too was denied as the Lancers fell 2-0.
Grace dominated the box score, holding decisive advantages in shots (23-9), shots on goal (11-4) corner kicks (12-0) and fouled seven less times than MVNU.
Garcia led Grace with seven shots and Holwerda followed close behind with five. Matteo Conci made two saves in the start.

Grace Strikes Late To Earn Draw
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - A goal in the final five minutes allowed Grace’s women’s soccer team to secure a 1-1 tie at Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Wednesday.
The Lancers controlled large swaths of Wednesday’s match, including a dominant 17-5 advantage in shot attempts.
But Grace had to erase a 1-0 halftime deficit, doing so thanks to Rosalie Gefrorer’s late headed goal in the 86th minute.
It did not take Grace long to assert itself against the Cougars. The Lancers (8-0-1, 0-0-1 Crossroads League) quickly went on the attack, trying a shot with two corner kicks in the first four minutes.
Fifteen minutes into the contest, Grace had three shots and three corners; the Cougars, on the other hand, had no shots and two fouls.
Grace had a flurry of chances with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Tori Twombly and Rylee Burns both shot wide of the goal, and Amy Wearing tried a threatening attempt that glanced off the crossbar.
Despite Grace’s control, the Cougars were the team who took the lead at halftime.
MVNU created pressure in front of Grace’s goal, redirecting the ball into the net with just over five minutes remaining in the half.
It marked Grace’s first goal surrendered of the season. The Lancers had a stretch of 760 consecutive scoreless minutes on defense before the Cougars’ tally.
Grace went into halftime behind despite a 9-2 advantage in shot attempts. The Lancers also had the only four corner kicks of the half.
The script did not change much in the second half. Grace owned eight of the 11 shot attempts after halftime and took the only three corners.
The Lancers kept the Cougars pinned back defensively throughout the second half. Twombly tried two shots, and Madelief Lowik had a low shot that was saved.
A few minutes later, Cassidy Felger spun by a defender and tried a deep shot that sailed wide.
The breakthrough moment came off a corner kick, which was won by Abby Hodkin.
Audrey Abel sent the corner kick into the middle of the penalty box, and Gefrorer beat the crowd, heading her shot beyond the goalkeeper and past two defenders into the net.
Neither side could find a winner across the final minutes as the teams shared the 1-1 draw.
Grace finished the match with 17 shots and seven corner kicks, and MVNU had five shots and no corners.
The Lancers return home on Saturday for a 7 p.m. match against Taylor.