Goshen, IN — It may not be
visible from the final score, but the Goshen College women’s
volleyball team is making serious progress.
Goshen dropped a 14-30, 21-30, 27-30 contest to Mid-Central Conference
rival Indiana Wesleyan University Tuesday night, in a match filled
with — surprisingly — impressive Goshen runs. Despite
the squad’s fifth 0-3 loss in conference play this season,
the Leafs had the Roman Gingerich Center crowd on its feet several
times Tuesday, making late-game pushes that were the quality of
very good volleyball.
Unfortunately, Wesleyan was able to hush the crowd with just enough
plays at the end of game two and game three, the latter of which
was nearly a valiant comeback from a determined Goshen squad.
“We were a little more determined and focused in the third
game tonight,” said Jewel Lehman, Goshen head coach. “We
have a lot of room to grow and clearly we need to pick up the pace
of our game. Progress is slow, but we do see some growth along
the way.”
That growth was invisible only in Tuesday night’s first stanza,
as Wesleyan showed why it has posted 21 wins to just four losses
in a 30-14 rout of the Leafs. Goshen (2-15, 0-5) responded with
late rallies in both the second and third contests, however, pushing
IWU to a pair of late-game timeouts to regain control.
In the second game Indiana Wesleyan looked to have things wrapped
up when Goshen stormed back to pull to a 21-23 score. A Wildcat
timeout
led to a seven to nothing run to end the stanza, and the
Leafs’ momentum was quickly knocked down.
That didn’t stop Lehman’s squad from perhaps its best
volleyball of the season late in the third game, however, as junior
Jess Buller stepped to the service line and rallied Goshen from
an 18-27 score to a 27-27 tie. A costly Leaf mistake at the net
and an impressive IWU kill terminated that run, however, as a raucous
Roman Gingerich Center crowd could not pull the team to complete
the comeback.
Buller put on an impressive performance in every area of the court,
compiling a team-high 15 kills in 42 attempts (a .048 attack percentage),
a team-best 17 digs and a team-leading 15 serves — all without
an error and with one ace.
“Jess put forth a very good effort tonight against a very
good team at the net,” Lehman said. “We were able to
sharpen our passes a bit and began to hit around the block (in
the second
and third games). A slow start and inconsistent passing allowed
them to pull ahead early on, however. We’re still back on
our heels a lot and not ready.”
Freshman setter Lindsey Nofziger was called on to relieve starter
and classmate Alli Hawkins during the second game, producing 11
assists during an impressive Leafs’ run. Hakwins tallied
19 total assists on the evening, while Buller was backed by eight
kills from freshman Ashley Janssen and seven from freshman Gina
Richard. Richard also provided the team’s lone solo block,
while Janssen collected two service aces, a team-high on the evening.
Goshen will next host the annual Alumni Weekend Tri-Match on Saturday,
with matches beginning at 10 a.m. Goshen will face Grace Bible
College in the day’s first match, with Grace Bible taking
on Robert Morris College at 11:30 a.m. Goshen will conclude the
match with a contest against Robert Morris at 1 p.m.
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  Junior
Jess Buller
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