Goshen, IN — The storyline
has not deviated much for the Goshen College women’s volleyball
team in Mid-Central Conference play this season: Suffer a big
defeat in the first game, slowly build confidence in the second
and make a serious push in the third, only to drop the match
by a 3-0 count.
It was a third verse, same as the first Tuesday night against MCC
foe Taylor University, as the Lady Trojans claimed a 30-12, 30-21,
30-26 win over Goshen (1-10, 0-3) which was again without senior
middle/outside hitter Danielle Haney due to a knee injury (click
here for related article).
“Our returning players need to step up and lead this team
with confidence,” said
Goshen head coach Jewel Lehman following Tuesday’s match. “We
continue to play much more competitively in the latter parts of
matches, but it is tough to fight from behind. We must come out
more ready to play.”
The Leafs looked anything but ready after an early spill during
warm-ups, as senior Jess Buller took a hard tumble on her hand
due to a wet playing surface. By the time Buller and company had
everything straightened out, Taylor had shot out to a 30-12 win
in the first game.
A better effort offensively from the Leafs kept things close in
the second stanza, but again Taylor used a late scoring push to
claim the 30-21 win. Goshen stayed close with the visitors throughout
the third match, but eventually fell behind by a 19-29 score before
running off seven straight points to make things tight on Taylor.
The Lady Trojans finally put the match away on one of a plethora
of kills from its front line.
Goshen recorded just a .078 attack percentage on the evening, finding
Taylor’s block tough to hit around. The Leafs made 23 attacking
errors compared to 32 attacks for points, all out of a total 116
attack attempts.
“We struggled with Taylor’s block tonight,” Lehman
said. “Our
hitters weren’t able to go around them. We missed serves
at key points and we watched some balls drop. We can play better
than what we displayed tonight.”
Buller led the offensive attack for Goshen, placing 10 kills on
a .067 attack average. Freshman Gina Richard notched six kills,
while senior Maria Rakochy and freshman Ashley Janssen each recorded
five. Junior Stephanie Kennell and sophomore Caitlin Helmuth each
scooped 10 digs on the evening, with freshman Alli Hawkins charting
seven. Hawkins also finished with 27 assists from her setter position.
Kennell finished with a team-high three service aces on the night.
Buller took 30 service receptions, making just three mistakes.
The prognosis of Haney, while officially still unclear, took a
positive turn in speculation Tuesday, as a surgeon offered an opinion
that it may not be a torn ACL after all. Haney is slated to undergo
an MRI on her right knee on Monday of next week. Those results
will provide conclusive data on Haney’s injury and the extent
to which she will be out.
Her absence is a certainty this weekend, however, as Goshen will
next compete in the University of Michigan-Dearborn Collegiate
Challenge Tournament. The Leafs will take on Grace Bible College
in their first match of the weekend on Friday. That match time
is set for 5:45 p.m.
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  Junior
Jess Buller
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