GOSHEN, Ind. – The Goshen College volleyball team is at .500 for the first time in 2012 after another pair of sweeps extended its winning streak to four matches and 12 straight sets.  The Leafs defeated Roosevelt University  and Rochester College 25-19, 25-19, 25-18 Saturday afternoon.

"I was very pleased with our effort and intensity," head coach Jim Routhier said.  "There is no doubt that the experience they got in Montana playing national ranked teams helped jump start our offensive and defensive play.  We are very pleased with where we are this early in the season."

The Maple Leafs opened the day with a tight first set against an upstart Roosevelt University squad.  After leading by just two (17-15), Goshen rattled off four straight - including a pair of Hannah Grieser kills - to put the first set away and take an early advantage.

In both the second and third sets, the Leafs needed to erase deficits midway through.  To close out the match, they rolled off 10-of-11 and 13-of-16 with three kills each by sophomores Jaime Stack and Melanie Meyer.  

"We always seem to be in control of the games.  Even when we are behind, I think the girls know they can rally and win," Routhier continued.  "We seem to have great concentration and execution on the tough plays.  It's the easy routine plays that we seem to take a small mental break on."

Meyer led all attackers with 11 kills and had just two errors for a .346 hitting percentage.  Grieser was also extremely proficient with seven kills on 17 swings (.412).  Junior Stacy Wyse dished out 30 assists, while Stack and sophomore Missy Mackowiak each had 15 digs.  Roosevelt was led by Vanessa Owusu and Tori Schrementi with eight and seven kills, respectively.

Roosevelt went on to pick up its first win of their young season, 25-16, 25-7, 25-23 over Rochester in the middle game of the day.  Owusu had a match-high 10 kills for the Lakers.

"Roosevelt is a good team who just lacks experience for their freshmen and Rochester also was very young and inexperienced," Routhier added.  "We did a very good job of taking them out of their strengths and taking advantage of their weaknesses."

Much like the first match of the day, Goshen had to dig out of some early holes against Rochester.  They finished the first set on a 11-4 run, the second on a 16-5 spurt and the third on 7-1 run.

Stack had an outstanding all-around match, leading the team with nine kills to go with 17 digs and three service aces.  Grieser added eight kills and three aces, while Mackowiak had a match-high 18 digs.

"I thought our hitters did a pretty good job of changing their attacks and Stacy did a great job of spreading the sets around," Routhier said.  "Missy was again awesome and seems to get to every ball within her reach."

The Maple Leafs (4-4) are now off until Wednesday when they host Saint Xavier University in their final tuneup for Crossroads League play.