Grace Volleyball: Lancers Pound Goshen
WINONA LAKE – The Grace volleyball team picked up its first Crossroads League win of the year with a 3-1 victory over Goshen on Saturday.
The match was tightly contested from the first serve with three of the four sets going to extra points at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
The Lady Lancers (6-7, 1-3 CL) came out firing in the opener, outhitting Goshen 16 kills to nine. But Grace needed a late surge to take out the Maple Leafs (6-5, 2-2 CL) for a 26-24 win.
In the second set, Grace pulled ahead 17-12 and seemed poised to take a 2-0 set lead. Goshen had other plans, however.
The Maple Leafs used an 8-1 run to grab a 20-18 lead. The Lady Lancers bounced back and served for the set at 24-22. But Goshen managed to survive and earned an improbable 26-24 win with four straight points. Grace had 17 attack errors in the second game.
The third set provided another extra points clash. Midway through the game, Goshen held an 18-12 advantage. Grace closed the gap and tied the score at 21, 22 and 23. The Maple Leafs served for the set, but Kari Feddema had kills on two straight set points to keep the Lady Lancers afloat. Grace used that momentum to end the set 27-25 on kills from Taylor Baird and Kelsee Zuidema.
The fourth set proved to be anticlimactic as the Lady Lancers coasted to a 10-point win to clinch the match. Grace had 16 kills in the set on a .295 percentage.
“The girls played really hard today. They worked together well and our entire defensive unit was in sync,” said Grace head coach Katie Van Hofwegen. “The girls have continued to dig deep and fight hard this season, so it was great to see them come out on top. I’m excited to build on this and carry our momentum into next week.”
As a team, Grace had 65 kills while holding Goshen to 43 kills on a .107 percentage. Baird exploded with a career-high 52 assists go go along with 11 digs and five kills.
Sierra Smith met a career-best with 18 kills, and Zuidema had a memorable match with 18 kills, 10 digs, 2 aces and 3 block assists.
Caylie Teel tallied 26 digs, and Tori Bontrager had her best outing of the year with 11 kills and five block assists. Kaitlin Kerrigan, Sara Miller, Alexa Hill, Zuidema, Baird and Teel all produced double-digit digs in a well-rounded defensive performance.
The Lady Lancers will be on the road all next week, playing at Taylor, Spring Arbor and St. Francis.