MARION – The Grace College volleyball team’s run in the 2012 Crossroads League Tournament ended on Thursday night with a 3-0 defeat to top-seeded Indiana Wesleyan in the semifinals.

The Lady Lancers (22-14) lost a tough set in the opener and couldn’t fully recover against the Wildcats.

Grace trailed the Wildcats (34-2) by the score of 9-7 in the first set but seized the lead with seven unanswered points. Indiana Wesleyan battled back to tie the score, but Hannah Clemmons won back-to-back points for Grace with a kill and service ace to give the Lady Lancers a 22-19 lead.

The Wildcats called timeout to regroup and managed to take four of the next five points. Grace used a timeout as they led 23-22, but Indiana Wesleyan had too much momentum and rallied late to steal a 25-23 win.

Arielle Walters registered five of her team-high 11 kills in the first set.

The Wildcats had their strongest offensive game in the second set, totaling 13 kills on three errors to cruise to a 25-18 win.

Indiana Wesleyan claimed a 15-11 lead midway into the third set and never relinquished it. Grace did their best to cut into the Wildcats’ advantage, but they could not come closer than to within three points for the duration of the match in a 25-20 defeat.

The two teams had split a pair of meetings during the regular season.

Walters paced Grace statistically with 11 kills on a .350 percentage to go along with a solo block and three block assists. Clemmons had a strong outing with 7 kills, 2 service aces and a match-high 16 digs.

Alix Underwood tallied seven kills and seven digs, Stefanie Bolt had six kills and three block assists, and Annie Salazar produced 15 digs.

The Lady Lancers will shift their focus to qualifying for the NCCAA National Championships. Grace will need to win the Midwest region in tournament play next weekend to earn their second straight trip to Kissimmee, Fla.