The Grace College volleyball team celebrates during a 3-0 home win over Mount Vernon Nazarene Tuesday night (Photo by Seth Elliott)

WINONA LAKE – The Grace College volleyball team got a much-needed boost in Crossroads League play with a 3-0 sweep of Mount Vernon Nazarene at home on Tuesday.

The Lady Lancers (11-3; 3-3 CL) trailed early in each of their three sets with the Cougars. But Grace battled back to win two of their three sets in extra points, including the final 28-26 clincher in the third.

Grace found itself in a 23-17 hole in the opener before head coach Andria Harshman called a well-placed timeout. The results were immediate as the Lady Lancers responded to tie the score at 24-24. Dana Johnston had three straight kills to spark Grace late as they came back to win 27-25.

Johnston produced seven kills on nine attempts in the first set.

Junior setter Ellie Harp led a dynamic offense in the second set as Grace sped away to a 25-18 win. Harp handed out 15 assists with four players notching at least three kills.

The third set was a duplicate of the opener as Grace recovered from a deficit to win in extra points. The Lady Lancers’ victory was clinched by freshman Grace Woolsey with a kill to the backline.

Dana Johnston led all players with 16 kills on a .375 percentage, and Ellie Harp dished out 39 kills in three sets.

Calah Kruse earned a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs, and Annie Salazar (22 digs) and Jessica Scherb (14 digs) paced Grace’s defense.

The Cougars were held to a .136 hitting percentage. They also committed a number of unforced errors, including nine service errors.

The Lady Lancers will close out the week by tackling the top two teams in the league, playing at Bethel on Friday at 7 p.m. and at Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday at 3 p.m.