Defiance, OH — Some improved
play and a higher level of competitiveness did not yield the
Goshen College volleyball team a win at this weekend’s
Defiance College Invitational, as the Leafs dropped four matches
in the nine-team, three-pool mega-event.
Goshen (0-10, 0-1) dropped matches to Concordia University (16-30,
29-31, 21-30) and Mid-Central Conference foe Grace College (22-30,
20-30, 22-30) Friday night, while falling to Oakland City University
(15-30, 30-27, 20-30, 26-30) and Geneva College (29-31, 26-30,
19-30) Saturday morning. The Leafs were again without starting
sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Kennell, who continues to be
sidelined with a severe right ankle sprain. That factor didn’t
affect head coach Jewel Lehman’s thoughts at the conclusion
of the weekend, however.
“We were disappointed to drop all four matches this weekend,” Lehman
said. “These teams are not out of our league and we can play
with them. Typically we started strong, but we kept getting stuck
in one rotation, allowing teams to score a run of points without
a sideout.”
Such was the case in the event’s first match against the
Cardinals, as Concorida was able to hold off a mounting Leafs threat
as the match wore on. Goshen was led by sophomore Jessica Buller’s
11 kills on an incredible .455 attack percentage, but it wasn’t
enough. Eleven serve receive errors and 13 team attack errors helped
to offset any offensive firepower Lehman’s squad was able
to generate. Defensively, Buller led the team with 15 digs on 25
serve receives. Freshman Caitlin Helmuth notched 16 digs to go
with 17 assists from the setting position.
“In the first game we made some adjustments to our rotation
which helped some, but ultimately we couldn’t string enough
points together to win a game,” Lehman said.
The same story line held true against Grace in a non-league match-up,
as Goshen again could not break out offensively against a looming
Lancer block.
Sophomore Carly Feldman paced the team with 11 kills
on a .345 attack percentage, but no other player finished in double-figures.
Senior Anna Herdeck was next in line with eight attacks for points,
followed by Buller’s six. Herdeck led the team with 19 digs,
while Feldman and Buller finished with 14 and 13, respectively.
“As a team, our defense is improving as demonstrated by adding
up 119 digs in the Friday evening matches,” Lehman said. “When
we learn to finish strong instead of making errors at critical
points, we will be winning the games and subsequently the matches.”
That education did not come fully to the Leafs on Saturday, as
the team was able to take one game from Oakland City but again
not able to finish off the Lady Oaks as Lehman wished. Despite
12 service aces and Herdeck posting 11 kills on a .333 attack percentage — by
far her best clip of the weekend — Goshen was not able to
pressure Oakland City in the third or fourth stanza.
“We played with Oakland City early on in the first game but
we had too many attack errors to pressure them,” Lehman said. “We
came back strong and I was pleased with the intensity and focus
in the second game. We allowed a string of five points in the third
game making it very difficult to battle back. After losing the
momentum we worked hard to gain, they took the third and fourth.”
Buller again was a force on the outside, finishing with 15 kills.
Helmuth provided 36 assists and 17 digs to go with a remarkable
five service aces. Feldman and junior Danielle Haney flanked Buller
and Herdeck at the net, slamming eight and seven kills each.
Superior defense was not enough to hold down a quick, talented
Geneva team in the weekend’s final event, as the Leafs could
not convert digs into points. Goshen successfully dug the ball
48 times in the quick, three-game set, but could only must a .082
team attack percentage and a total 28 kills, the fewest on the
weekend.
“Geneva was a tough team with a quick offense,” Lehman
said. “We
were faced with multiple attackers approaching quickly at the net
and our blockers were struggling to contain them. We played great
defense in the back row compensating for this well, however, our
setter and attackers weren’t converting the great digs to
points.”
Herdeck and Buller each placed nine kills in the loss, with Feldman
notching seven on a .217 attack clip. Herdeck led the team with
14 digs, followed by Feldman (10), Buller (nine) and Helmuth (eight).
And while Goshen had 10 service aces to just six errors, Lehman
said those mistakes came at costly times during the match.
“Overall this weekend we saw significant improvement in our
back row defense and we continue to hash out issues with rotation
and
communication,” Lehman said. “Our young players are
learning a lot and we expect to see things coming together on the
court soon. When it does, we will win. We’ll be working on
our net play a lot this week as our hitting and blocking are not
where they should be in terms of consistency and desire to terminate
the play. We are excited about our next few matches because we
feel we have a real chance to pull together and take some of them.”
Defiance won the invitational championship, posting a 3-1 record.
Huntington University finished as the runner-up squad. For a complete
listing of invitational pools and head to head results, including
all-tournament team players, click here.
Goshen will next travel to Indianapolis for the second MCC match
of the season on Tuesday. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
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  The
Leafs In a Pre-Match Huddle
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