(Box Score) Fort Wayne, IN — Looking to exact a slight bit of payback on the Goshen College women’s volleyball team, Taylor University-Fort Wayne cashed in on a sluggish Leafs’ effort Tuesday night, winning a 30-27, 33-35, 22-30, 28-30 decision.
The loss evened the season series between the squads – Goshen (8-8, 1-3) handed Taylor-Fort Wayne a 3-1 defeat at the Goshen College Tri-Match on Sept. 14 (click here for article) — while the evening was not a good start for the Leafs: Goshen will suit up again in less than 24 hours, as the team will host Manchester College tomorrow night.
“We started out slowly tonight as several players were struggling in passing and we had some difficulty in running our offense,” said Jewel Lehman, Goshen head coach. “I was disappointed that we didn’t come out on fire in the beginning but we managed to pull out the first game. That kind of effort just permeated through the whole night, and Taylor-Fort Wayne was able to take the last three games. We have to be more intense and intentional about playing our best. The wins will be there then.”
Following the Leafs’ game one win, Lehman began to substitute liberally, giving all 11 players ample playing time. That revolving door mentality nearly worked, as Goshen pushed the Lady Falcons to a 33-35 score before falling.
Goshen hit a match-high .269 clip from the attacking line in the third game, but a season-low 26 attempts thwarted that statistic in the team’s 22-30 loss.
The hosts collected eight aces in its narrow 28-30 game four decision.
“In the second game we had a fairly significant lead but we let it slip away, even though we battled with them well past 30 (points),” Lehman said. “We definitely had our chances to put away the second game and we did not take advantage of them. Everyone got a chance to play in this game so it was good for everyone to experience the pressure of the game situation. We were really flat in the third game, passing was poor and we kept (sophomore setter) Alli Hawkins on the run. We didn’t serve as aggressively as we did in the first game. Even though our attack percentage looked okay on paper, we only had the opportunity to attack 26 balls. We need to be attacking more balls to stay in the game. We then continued to struggle in the fourth game. We had more attack attempts that showed the ball went back and forth over the net some, but we didn’t fight hard enough to sustain the momentum. Defensively we can play better and communication must improve.”
Freshman Peni Acayo led the team offensively, charting 20 kills on a .192 attack percentage. Sophomore Ashley Janssen recorded eight kills on a season-best .353 attack clip, while classmate Brittany Herschberger tallied a team-best 14 digs.
Hawkins was credited for 28 assists on the night. Sophomore Gina Richard added two solo blocks. Acayo also recorded a career-high eight aces to go with 12 digs, the second best total behind Herschberger’s 14.
Goshen will now get only a brief respite before hosting Manchester College tomorrow night. Match time is set for 7 p.m. in the Roman Gingerich Center.
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Sophomore Ashley Janssen