Goshen, IN — For those in
attendance at Wednesday evening’s final regular-season
home volleyball match against Mid-Central Conference rival University
of St. Francis, the end result was only a small part of the evening.
Fans witnessed the true essence of Goshen College volleyball long
before the match ever began.
While Goshen (6-25, 1-7) fell to the Cougars 24-30, 20-30, 27-30
to conclude its season and miss qualifying for the MCC Tournament
for the first time in program history, it — perhaps more
importantly — honored and said goodbye to one of the school’s
greatest players prior to the match, as senior Anna Herdeck donned
the Goshen uniform for the final time in her illustrious career.
An emotional pre-match ceremony celebrated Herdeck’s accomplishments
and milestones, leaving most in attendance searching for the tissue
boxes in an attempt to contain the emotion.
For second-year head coach Jewel Lehman, it was difficult.
“It has been an honor to get to know and work with Anna over
the past year and a half,” Lehman told the crowd on the Roman
Gingerich Center’s public address system. “Not only
is she a talented and dedicated volleyball player, but she is also
the kind of person that affects the world around her in positive
ways, no matter what the assignment or task. Anna is a person of
great integrity, kindness and generosity. She is always willing
to lend a helping hand and she always has a smile on her face.
It has been a joy to have her on the team. We will miss you.”
After tear-filled comments by her teammates and a warm reception
with her parents, Herdeck’s final match only added to the
landmarks: The only upperclassman on the team both this season
and last, Herdeck finished as the program’s all-time leader
in both kills (1,431) and digs (1,867) shattering both records
while playing in 135 matches, the most for any individual player
in school history.
Her team-leading nine kills and 13 digs in the loss to St. Francis
was an appropriate end, according to Lehman.
“Anna has had such a great career at Goshen College,” Lehman
said. “Anna broke both program records due to her level of
talent, strong work ethic and commitment to the program. We thank
Anna for her contribution to the volleyball program. She has been
awesome.”
After injury and low numbers hindered the Leafs’ chances
for overall success this season, Herdeck continued to lead the
way for her young teammates. The senior outside hitter led the
team in digs (401) and finished second in kills only to sophomore
Carly Feldman, tallying 328 attacks for points.
Wednesday night against St. Francis, Herdeck and her teammates
were simply outmatched, staring slow in the first game and never
getting back into a consistent, competitive mode. St. Francis took
an 8-0 lead in the first game, setting the tone for the match and
keeping Goshen at bay for most of the night.
The Leafs’ best chance to steal a game came in the third
stanza, where Goshen found itself down 26-28. After securing serve
after a sideout, Lehman’s team could not capitalize, eventually
falling 27-30.
“St. Francis came out strong early, and we had trouble initiating
points,” Lehman said. “Once we began, we played with
them, but fell short in the first game. St. Francis had a few runs
scoring a series of points in the second game, and in the third
game we played tough defense and our passing was much improved.
We played with them but couldn’t even the score late.”
Feldman flanked Herdeck offensively, charting nine kills to go
with five digs and four service aces. Freshman Betsy Freeman also
tallied nine kills on a .350 attack percentage, while sophomore
Stephanie Kennell dug 10 balls and had two assist and one solo
block. Classmate Jess Buller finished with 24 assists on 103 sets.
She also had seven digs and three kills.
With the loss, Goshen finished in ninth place in the MCC, failing
to qualify for the eight-team MCC Tournament. Herdeck’s career
records replace those set by 1997 graduate Kristi Glick (1,391
kills) and 2005 graduate DeeDee Martin (1,301 digs).
“We’ve got our work cut out for us to get better, but
we will improve,” Lehman said. “We plan to announce
several recruit commitments in the coming months, and we must have
a productive
off-season in the gym. We will undoubtedly miss Anna and her leadership,
but we must look forward. We want to get Goshen volleyball back
to
its standard of success.”
Check back to this website for continual off-season information,
including team news and recruiting developments. To contact Jewel
Lehman, call her at (574) 535-7658 or click here to send her an
email.
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  Senior
Anna Herdeck
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