Grace Roundup: Lady Lancers Win Golf TournamentADA, Mich. – The Grace College women’s golf team won its second tournament of the fall by claiming the Pure Michigan Invitational on Wednesday.
The tournament, hosted by Grace at Quail Ridge Golf Club, was headlined by four Lady Lancers who placed in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard.
Lauren Keiser’s 77 was good for the runner-up position, and Anna Marshall was right behind with 78.
Sydney Abbott shot an 80 for sixth place, and Kara Godsey’s 84 placed her ninth. Kristin Holt rounded out the team’s scoring with a 92.
Grace won the tournament by a comfortable 11 strokes, beating second-place Aquinas 319-330.
“I really couldn’t be more pleased with our performance today,” said Grace head coach Denny Duncan. “We were solid from top to bottom of the lineup. It feels great to win our own tournament!”
The Lady Lancers are back in action Sept. 28-29 with the St. Francis Invitational.
Volleyball
GOSHEN – 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 three 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.
Women’s Soccer
GEORGETOWN, Ky. - Grace’s women’s soccer team completed an impressive nonconference season on Wednesday with a 2-0 win at Georgetown.
The Lady Lancers enter Crossroads League play next week with a sterling 8-1 record and winners of four straight matches. Grace’s only blemish so far this season was a 1-0 overtime defeat at No. 19 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.).
A pair of second-half goals by Anna Kuhl and Flavia Faria lifted the Lady Lancers to the road victory over the Tigers (3-4).
For the match, Grace outshot Georgetown 17-5. The Lady Lancers’ defense held the Tigers without a corner kick, and Georgetown only mustered three shots on goal.
Bethany Blackwood saved all three chances for a 90-minute shutout as Grace’s goalkeeper. The backline of Kuhl, Liz Aalbue, Kristen Bellinger and Aubrey Feipel gave the Tigers trouble attacking.
Grace was on the attack from the onset of Wednesday’s match. Jenni Phillips tried a pair of shots less than three minutes into the game.
The Lady Lancers consistently fired shots at the Tigers’ net, typically from shots by Phillips, Joana Schimmel and Sacia Hanson.
But the Tigers held Grace off the scoreboard in the first half despite 10 shots by the Lady Lancers.
Grace needed but a few minutes in the second half to find the back of the net. The Lady Lancers earned an indirect free kick in the 51st minute. Allison Vroon set up Kuhl for the eventual game-winning goal at the 50:57 mark.
The insurance goal for Grace came 14 minutes later. Vroon and Liz Van Wormer teamed up on an attack, assisting Faria at the 64:00 mark for the final 2-0 scoreline.
Grace held Georgetown to just two shots over the final 45 minutes; the Tigers had virtually no opportunity to close the gap on Grace in the second half.
Schimmel, Hanson and Van Wormer led all players with three shots, and Phillips and Kuhl each shot twice.
The Lady Lancers kick off the Crossroads League season at home on Sept. 26 against Huntington.
