WINONA LAKE – A balanced effort led Grace’s volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Marian on Saturday evening.

Six players had at least seven kills for the Lady Lancers (18-16, 9-9 Crossroads League) in the regular-season finale.

Grace finishes the season 9-9 in the league and currently sits in fifth place in the standings. Grace will face Bethel in the first round of the CL Tournament on Nov. 7. The game will be played at Bethel unless the Pilots fall to Marian in their regular-season finale.

The opening set saw Grace climb ahead 23-18 in the latter stages. The Knights (7-18, 4-13 CL) showed signs of life with three straight points, but a well-placed timeout by head coach Katie Van Hofwegen helped end the threat. Grace went on to win with a Marian error and a block point by Naarah Foster and Tori Bontrager.

Marian looked to even the count in the second set, serving for the game at 25-24. But Grace survived the set point, and a block from Bontrager and Kaitlin Kerrigan put Grace on top by one. Bontrager made another clutch play by knocking down the final point to give the Lady Lancers a 27-25 victory.

Marian stifled Grace’s offense into a negative hitting percentage in the third set with a 25-18 win, but Grace ended the match in the fourth. Grace gained separation with a 13-6 lead and never slowed down. Sierra Smith had the final kill of the match from the middle of the court, ending the day with a 25-21 victory.

Smith finished with 12 kills on a .226 percentage, and Kerrigan had a double-double of 10 kills, 21 digs and two service aces.

Foster racked up 10 kills and four block assists, Bontrager finished with 7 kills, 6 block assists and 1 solo block, and Kari Feddema and Kelsee Zuidema added seven kills apiece.

Laken Chaney tallied 22 assists, 13 digs and 2 aces, Taylor Baird passed out 21 assists, and Sara Miller ended with 23 digs.