OCT. 7 — Goshen Rolls In Alumni Weekend Tri-Match
Leafs sweep both Grace Bible, Robert Morris College; Herdeck honored

Goshen, IN — It was a day full of feel-good moments in the Roman Gingerich Center Saturday, as the Goshen College women’s volleyball team cruised to a pair of wins in its own triangular match while honoring all-time kill and dig leader Anna Herdeck — all in front of a large group of GC graduates during the institution’s alumni weekend.

Goshen rolled to a 30-11, 30-22, 30-21 win over Grace Bible College to start the day’s festivities and then knocked off a bigger Robert Morris College squad by a 30-21, 30-24, 30-21 score — the team’s third and fourth shut-out wins of the season.

“This was a great day for us,” said Jewel Lehman, Goshen head coach. “We stepped up and passed the ball better today and that led to some pretty good offense for us. We got our defense on track later in the day. Offensively, we played the best we have yet and we blocked better against Robert Morris. We have been working very hard and it is fun to see the team bring all aspects together for success.”

Goshen (4-15, 0-5) got things rolling early against Grace Bible, where an opening 30-11 rout led to less-impressive, 30-24 and 30-21 wins. The Leafs actually trailed by eight at one point during the third stanza, but closed with steady passing and impressive hitting to sweep the Tigers.

Junior Jess Buller teamed with freshmen Ashley Janssen and Gina Richard for a striking display up front, tallying 10, 10 and nine kills respectively. Attack percentages were off the charts, with Richard leading the way hitting .571. Buller wasn’t far behind with a .364 average, while Janssen totaled a .353 clip. Senior Maria Rakochy nailed five of her 10 attacks for points (.500 average), while Buller and Richard both led the squad with 10 digs apiece.

Buller was also phenomenal at the service line, charting a career-high 11 aces with just two errors. Freshmen Alli Hawkins (22 assists) and Lindsey Nofziger (11 assists) shared setting duties, while junior Stephanie Kennell came up with one solo and one assist block.

“We passed much better this match and it enabled us to run a quicker and more deceptive offense,” Lehman said. “Our attack percentages were far higher than they have been, as Gina did a great job at the net. Maria, Jess and Ashley also had good hitting averages as well.”

Facing a very tall and hard-hitting Eagles squad in the afternoon’s last match, it was Richard took control for Goshen, charting a team-best in kills (12) and a second-best effort in digs (11). She hit .409 at the net and added a solo block and three assist blocks in the 3-0 win. Janssen, meanwhile, charted nine kills to go with six digs and an assist block, while Rakochy tallied five kills in just 10 attempts at the net for yet another .500 attack percentage.

“Maria and Gina led us with a very consistent attack in our match against Robert Morris,” Lehman said. “Ashley also hit well. Gina and Stephanie Kennell also passed very well and we had quite a bit more blocks than we have in our last few matches. Our serve was on and we didn’t give them too many points.”

Hawkins came up with 32 assists in a full-match effort, while Buller led the way with 12 digs. As a team, Goshen came up with 12 service aces and just five service errors, making the Eagles earn every point.

2006 graduate Anna Herdeck was honored with a presentation between games two and three against Robert Morris, celebrating her career that ended as the program’s all-time leader in both kills (1,431) and digs (1,867). Though Herdeck said an emotional goodbye prior to last season’s final home match (click here for related article), Lehman wanted to give the program leader a similar tribute in front of alumni and friends on Saturday.

“Anna is an incredible volleyball player, but she is an even better person,” Lehman said. “I know that we all were excited to see her again, and this was the least we could do for her after the career she had here. I was honored she could be here today.”

Robert Morris defeated Grace Bible 30-13, 30-15, 30-12 in the day’s second match.

Goshen will now look to take its first win streak of the season away from the Roman Gingerich Center, as the team will travel to Aquinas College on Thursday for an out-of-conference match. Event time is slated for a 7 p.m. start.