(Box Score) Upland, IN — Nearly one week ago, the Goshen College women’s volleyball team used a raucous Roman Gingerich Center crowd to spur themselves onto a Mid-Central Conference victory over Spring Arbor University.
Tuesday night at Taylor University, the shoe was on the other foot.
Taylor — ranked just one vote out of the NAIA’s Top 25 poll — rode the wave of a loud and proud Don J. Odle Arena crowd to help itself to a 30-11, 30-26, 30-28 win over Goshen Tuesday night, evening the Leafs’ conference mark at 1-1. While shaking off some early-match rust and playing much more competitively as the night wore on, Goshen could not break through in the match at any point, suffering its second loss via sweep of the season.
“Our youth came through a bit tonight and we were not consistent in our play,” said Jewel Lehman, Goshen head coach. “Mentally we need to be much tougher to push through when things aren’t going our way. The gym was loud and the stands full of their fans. While I don’t think our players focused on this, this environment made it more difficult to communicate plays and to hear people call the ball. We have to count on each player to be there in the match and to pull out of tough situations, and recover from mistakes and move on. The players need to figure out how to communicate quickly and clearly on the court in a loud gym during a fast paced game.”
Goshen’s communication may have been at its lowest point early in Tuesday night’s goings on, as the squads traded points until Taylor took an 11-10 advantage. The Trojans then erupted, scoring 17 of the next 18 points overall to land a 30-11 first game decision — and set the tone for the remainder of the night.
Lehman’s squad was able to regroup steadily — the team improved its attacking percentage in each stanza — but simply could not get over the top. Strong pushes from the team was countered by even better play from Taylor, sparking the crowd and keeping Goshen at bay.
“We battled with them in the last two games even though some of our key players were struggling to execute,” Lehman said. “We played hard and were with them through the middle of the second game, trailing 17-18. It seemed that when we were just getting the momentum, we would make a critical mistake such as a serve error or a communication error. They pulled ahead a bit as we struggled but we fought for points up to the end.”
Freshman Peni Acayo again led the team in kills, generating 13 attacks for points at a .175 success rate. Classmate Kelsey Herschberger was right behind Acayo, placing 10 kills on a game-high .364 attack percentage. Sophomore Brittany Herschberger was the only Leaf player to record double-digit digs (10), while classmate Alli Hawkins placed 31 assists.
Senior Steph Kennell finished with two service aces and an assist block. Sophomore Ashley Janssen added an assist block as well.
“I am excited that we are now able to play with the top teams in our conference but disappointed that we did not have our best showing today,” Lehman said. “I estimate that Taylor is in the top three teams of the conference. We did score more points as the match progressed and I was pleased to see that. We still need to capitalize on the mistakes of the other team to make them into points for us. Taylor is a strong team and they run a fast offense and they have multiple players who hit very hard. We let this shake us up a bit and didn’t come through on our side. We can play better and I challenged our players to learn and grow so we can progress.”
Goshen will not have much time before returning to the friendly confines, as the squad will host the Goshen Tri-Match this Friday. The Leafs will take on Siena Heights University at 4 p.m. in the event opener. Siena Heights will then match-up with Taylor University-Fort Wayne at 6 p.m., followed by the night cap — Goshen vs. Taylor-Fort Wayne — at 8 p.m.
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Freshman Kelsey Herschberger