Lady Lancer Volleyball Handles Foresters In Straight Sets
Lady Lancer Volleyball Handles Foresters In Straight Sets
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Josh Neuhart-
Lady Lancer Volleyball Handles Foresters In Straight SetsWINONA LAKE – Grace College’s volleyball team was hitting on all cylinders in a 3-0 win over Huntington on Friday.
The Lady Lancers hit at a .229 percentage offensively, and Grace’s defense held the Foresters to a .039 clip in an efficient evening.
With the win, Grace moves into a tie for third place in the Crossroads League and gains a game of separation between themselves and the Foresters (8-8, 3-3 CL).
The Lady Lancers (9-5, 4-2 CL) played with energy in front of a lively crowd at the MOCC, led by a student section of Grace’s baseball team.
Grace’s energy forced Huntington to call both timeouts while trailing 19-12. The Foresters were unable to slow Grace’s momentum; Kari Feddema’s kill ended the set 25-17 for Grace.
Caylie Teel had four kills in the first set to lead all players. Defensively, Grace forced Huntington into 11 errors in the game.
In the second set, a 6-0 run early in the set gave Grace the lead for good. Teel had an ace and a kill in the run, and Feddema and Alexa Hill also added a kill. Grace went onto win 25-21 to take a commanding lead in the match.
Huntington pulled ahead early in the third set with a 7-3 lead. But the Lady Lancers used a 9-3 spurt to climb ahead and never trailed again. As a team, Grace had only three errors in the set compared to 11 for Huntington.
Feddema was ruthlessly efficient. The senior had 10 kills on just 19 swings for a .526 percentage. She was fed early and often by Hill who finished with 29 assists and eight digs.
Marta Bleed added eight kills, Teel amassed 7 kills, 11 digs and 1 solo block, and Sierra Smith chipped in six kills and three block assists.
Defensively, Grace covered the court well all match. Sara Miller had a team-high 14 digs, Emily Sharp added nine digs, and Gina Novotny tallied eight.
The Lady Lancers wrap up a four-game homestand on Wednesday. Grace hosts Goshen at 7 p.m. at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
Lancers Race In Preview Meet
CARMEL – Grace College’s cross country team enjoyed a taste of Crossroads League competition on Friday with the Crossroads League Preview Meet.
The race, held in Carmel, Ind., had eight of the 10 league teams competing head-to-head.
Grace’s men’s team finished fourth in the race, and the Lady Lancers ended in seventh place.
The course was filled with several rolling hills with warm temperatures in the 80s, resulting in slower-than-normal times for the field.
Carter Meyer was runner-up in the men’s race to help the Lancers to fourth place. He finished in 27:24, six seconds faster than the third-place competitor.
Sam Hall also finished in the top-20, ending in 18th place at 28:25. Elijah Brooks (29:09) and Ben Rankin (29:18), and Jonathan Balda (29:42) and Blake Kirkham (29:49) paired well together.
“Carter ran a smart race, starting out a bit conservative and then moving forward as the race progressed,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “Sam Hall ran very well to be our second finisher and placed in the top 20. I also want to mention Blake Kirkham. He was our sixth finisher and raced very well.”
On the women’s side, Liz Fox was exceptionally strong to lead the Lady Lancers. She ran her race in 21:04 for 26th place, which was 40 seconds faster than last week.
“I told Liz that she was probably one of the only runners in the entire race who ran faster than our previous race at Indiana Wesleyan,” Raymond said. “She likes running in warm weather, and it showed today.”
The next five runners for Grace finished in a tight pack, including Jessica Zvers (21:50), Emma Mitchell (21:54), McCalah Mast (22:04), Karla Singer (22:15) and Suzanne Sickafoose (22:23).
“The heat forced our top finisher last week [Aubrey Breininger] to pull out of the race, so our team score was affected,” Raymond said. “However, I thought the ladies accomplished what we wanted today as we continue to improve.”
The Lancers return to race action on Sept. 30 for the Greater Louisville Classic.
