OCT. 18 — Squad Gets Back At Taylor-Fort Wayne
After dropping Maple Leaf Invite match to Lady Falcons, Goshen takes 3-1 win

Fort Wayne, IN — The Taylor University-Fort Wayne Lady Falcons dealt the Goshen College women’s volleyball team a 24-30, 30-21, 32-30, 29-31, 11-15 loss on Sept. 16, putting a damper on Goshen’s opening of the Maple Leaf Invitational.

Tuesday night in Fort Wayne, it was Goshen that curbed Taylor-Fort Wayne’s finale.

Using its five-game loss to the Lady Falcons as motivation (click here for Maple Leaf Invite recap), Goshen traveled to Fort Wayne and won a 30-24, 23-30, 30-19, 30-25 decision over Taylor-Fort Wayne Tuesday night, fizzling the Lady Falcons’ senior night festivities while heading into a brief hiatus on a high note of its own — Goshen will remain idle for one week, giving head coach Jewel Lehman a chance to rest her undermanned squad.

“It was good to get a win in the fashion that we did tonight,” Lehman said. “Not only was it a fun win after losing to them in a close five-game match earlier in the season, but we again showed progress. We have improved our intensity on defense and have started to figure some things out over the last few weeks.”

Goshen (6-21, 1-5) used a powerful performance on both the offensive and defensive sides of the net to drop the Lady Falcons Tuesday night, charting 91 total digs (more than 35 scoops over the team’s season average) and 52 kills (better than 15 above the season pace). Combined with a .947 percentage from the serving line and a .863 serve receive clip, Goshen simply clicked too often and at too high of a level for Taylor-Fort Wayne to have much of a chance.

After a first game that saw Goshen put it out of reach late with some tough serving, Taylor-Fort Wayne was able to come back and steal the second stanza, 23-30. That would be the only true resistance placed by the Lady Falcons on the match, however, as Goshen reeled off a 30-19 clip in game four and a 30-25 win in game five to close out the Taylor-Fort Wayne home 2005 season.

“We played with them the entire first game but were able to pull away at the end with a couple of tough serves,” Lehman said. “We started too slow in the second game and let them gain enough momentum to win it. They were tipping the ball and we were a step too late to pick it up and their defense was very persistent. We were in control during the third game as we jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. We needed a few key plays late to pull it out in the fourth game, as they matched our score late after we built an early lead. Fortunately, we came together at the end.”

Senior Anna Herdeck showed no ill-effects from a sprained right ankle from this weekend’s Judson College Tournament (click here for article), dropping 15 kills and picking up 16 digs in her starting outside hitting position. Sophomore Carly Feldman tallied 12 kills and supplied 15 digs, while classmate Stephanie Kennell put together a monster day at the net, finishing with three solo and two assist blocks to go with six kills. She also had 11 digs. Sophomore Christina Leichty tallied 20 digs to go with four kills in just 10 attempts (.400 attack percentage), as classmate Jess Buller recorded 42 assists on 136 sets. Buller also finished with 20 digs, adding five kills. Freshman Betsy Freeman proved to be a force up front, tallying 10 kills on a .200 attack percentage while having a hand in four blocks, two solo and two assist. In service statistics, Leichty provided three aces while Herdeck notched a .970 serve receive percentage, making just a single error in 32 receptions.

“Everyone stepped their games up and played well for us tonight,” Lehman said. “Coming off two big weekends on the road (Cornerstone Golden Eagle Invitational and Judson College Tournament), we are ready for a break this weekend. After a bit of rest, we will prepare mentally and physically for our final home contest. We will be fighting to win another conference match or two so we can participate in the conference tournament.”

With just two Mid-Central Conference matches remaining, Goshen is currently tied for eighth-place with Marian College. With the league’s ninth-place team not qualifying for post-season play, the Leafs are not yet guaranteed an MCC Tournament berth. Goshen will next host Grace College Tuesday night. Event time is set for 7 p.m.