Spring Arbor, MI — With four
freshmen and just one senior on the 2006 Goshen College women’s
volleyball roster, third-year head coach Jewel Lehman knew it
would take baby steps before her team was competitive in the
ultra-tough Mid-Central Conference.
Consider progress being made.
Just one week after a sluggish 0-3 loss to MCC foe Marian College
(click here for article), Goshen took to the road for an evening
slate against Spring Arbor University, putting forth a gradually
better effort in a 11-30, 20-30, 24-30 loss.
“Although we are dissatisfied with losing, we are encouraged
by the performance which was a cut above last week,” Lehman
said following the match. “We still have much work to do,
but our improvements in quite a few areas are noticeable.”
Lehman made an early lineup adjustment for Goshen (0-6, 0-2) that
immediately paid dividends, as Goshen’s attack percentage
leapt from a dismal -.108 average at one point to a respectable
.119 clip by the third game’s end. Following five service
receive errors in the first game, the Leafs made just three additional
mistakes on serve receive for the remainder of the event.
“We started slow and struggled with serve receive in one
position,” Lehman
said. “We made a lineup adjustment and played tough defense
to establish more of a presence in the second game. I was pleased
with our communication, team serve receive and back row defense
as it was much improved over last week.”
Junior Jess Buller led the Goshen attack, placing eight kills to
go with seven digs. Senior Danielle Haney was next in line with
seven attacks for points, including a team best .150 attacking
percentage. Junior Steph Kennell recorded a team-high 11 digs on
the night, while freshman Ashley Janssen charted a pair of kills
and four digs, including the only service ace on the night. Classmate
Allison Hawkins again ran the team from the setter’s position,
charting 17 assists and going a perfect five for five from the
service line.
Lehman was quick to point out a total five blocking errors on the
evening, allowing the host Cougars extra points at the net.
“We still need to do a much better job of terminating the
play on offense,” Lehman said. “Our blockers are reading
the play much better than before but we are not seing the resultant
stats in that area yet. An intense practice session tomorrow will
lead us into our first win which we anticipate this weekend.”
Goshen will host the sixth-annual Maple Leaf Invitational on Friday
and Saturday of this weekend, with the team’s initial match
slated against Taylor University-Fort Wayne at 4 p.m. For a complete
list of participating teams and tournament schedule, click here.
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  Junior
Jess Buller
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