Grand Rapids, MI — Riding
its first winning streak of the season and starting to play its
most competitive brand of volleyball, the Goshen College women’s
volleyball team suffered a vastly disappointing loss at Aquinas
College Thursday night, falling by a 21-30, 30-24, 27-30, 28-30
score.
By game-to-game point differential, the loss was the closest yet
for Goshen (4-16, 0-5), which had chances to sweep the final three
stanzas but could only come up with a game two win.
“We are playing competitively now and we definitely had our
chances in this match,” said Jewel Lehman, Goshen head coach. “We
terminated the rally more often in this match and are playing well
defensively in the back row.”
After getting a feel for each other and trading games in the first
two stanzas, Goshen and Aquinas battled nip-and-tuck for the remainder
of play, exchanging leads regularly. It was the Leafs that actually
looked to be in control of game three and on the verge of taking
a 2-1 lead, but costly attack errors helped the host Saints to
the win. A tough game-four loss spelled the end for Goshen, which
hit positively in all games for just the fourth time this season.
“We were ahead in the third game and let it slip away,” Lehman
said. “We battled with them in the fourth, but made a few
critical mistakes toward the end.”
As a team, Goshen hit .206 in the game two win, compared to .123
in the game-three loss and .102 in the game-four loss. The Leafs’ .060
attack average in the contest’s first game came as a result
of nine attack errors in just 50 attempts.
Junior Jess Buller led the way at the net for the Leafs, charting
19 kills on a .143 hitting average. Freshman Gina Richard wasn’t
far behind with 17 attacks for points (.163 average), while freshman
Ashley Janssen recorded eight kills. Janssen was stellar during
her time in the back row as well, finishing with a career-high
22 digs. Buller recorded 19 digs, while junior Stephanie Kennell
finished with 17 on the night.
Freshman setter Alli Hawkins finished with 43 assists, 12 digs
and a deceptive six kills, while senior Maria Rakochy delivered
four service aces. Kennell and Rakochy both teamed for a pair of
assist blocks as well.
Goshen will remain idle during the institution’s fall break
weekend, but will resume Mid-Central Conference play on Wednesday
when the team travels to Grace College. Match time is set for 7
p.m.
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  Freshman
Ashley Janssen
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