The Grace College volleyball team celebrates after beating Huntington 3-2 at home Friday night (Photo provided by Chantel Shetler)

WINONA LAKE – A critical late-season Crossroads League battle was seized by the Grace College volleyball team in five-set fashion Friday night.

The Lady Lancers (9-8, 4-4 CL) made a jump in the league standings with a 3-2 win over Huntington, avenging an earlier nonconference loss to the Foresters (8-7, 4-4 CL).

The opening set was hotly contested. Grace used a late 5-2 spurt to grab a 22-20 lead which forced Huntington to burn its final timeout.

The Foresters rallied to tie the score, but Sierra Smith demolished a kill to spark Grace; the Lady Lancers went on to win the next two rallies to take the first set, 25-22.

The second set saw Grace hold a slight lead for much of the game. Grace pulled ahead 18-15, but the Foresters clawed back to tie the score. Huntington served for the set but was denied on three straight set points thanks to kills by Kari Feddema, Taylor Baird and Marta Bleed.

Grace had a set point of its own after a kill by Kelsee Zuidema, but Huntington showed moxie with three straight clutch points to win 29-27.

In set three, Grace again led for much of the early portions. The Foresters were forced to burn an early timeout as they trailed 7-3. Grace refused to surrender the lead this time and coasted to a six-point win.

The fourth set started in reverse as the Foresters opened up an 8-4 advantage. Grace was unable to make a dent in Huntington’s margin thanks to a .096 hitting percentage in the set and fell 25-15.

Grace opened up the tiebreaker with tremendous energy thanks to an enthusiastic student section. Grace led 7-2 before Huntington could react. The Foresters managed to pull within three, but that proved to be as close as they would get. Grace secured the win with a 15-9 victory.

“I was proud of how we came back in the fifth game after a tough loss. It showed a lot of heart and character. We had a great crowd tonight and definitely fed off their energy,” said Grace head coach Katie Van Hofwegen. “Sierra and Kari did outstanding for us and allowed us to spread the ball around and keep the defense on their toes. There are still things we need to improve, specifically with serving, but we will work to fix those things for tomorrow.”

Baird had a well-rounded match from the setter position with 48 assists, 7 digs and 5 kills, including the match winner. Smith led all players with 16 kills on a .419 percentage, and Feddema had 11 kills on a .375 percentage.

Zuidema produced a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs, Bleed tallied 11 kills and seven digs, and Tori Bontrager added 6 kills, 2 aces, 1 solo block and 3 block assists.

Caylie Teel notched a team-high 24 digs, and Kaitlin Kerrigan chipped in 14.

The Lady Lancers will remain at home on Saturday with a 3 p.m. match against Marian.