(Box Score) Goshen, IN — With the second boisterous crowd in as many home matches urging them on, the Goshen College women’s volleyball team beat both Spring Arbor University and a warm, humid Roman Gingerich Center environment Wednesday night in a key 30-24, 25-30, 30-21, 30-28 Mid-Central Conference win.
The victory was the Leafs’ first in MCC competition since the 2005 season and first league-opening win since the 2003 campaign, as Goshen head coach Jewel Lehman said her team is beginning to show some positive signs just two weeks into competition.
“This was a great win for us tonight, and it demonstrates to me that we learned something when we played Judson (University) this past weekend,” she said. “Against Judson we let the match slip away in the fourth game and we realized just how unpredictable the short, fifth game can be. In between games three and four tonight, I reminded them how it feels to lose when we could have won it in the fourth (against Judson). It was nice to see the team step up and take care of business in the fourth tonight.”
It appeared that Goshen (4-2, 1-0) would need just three games to dispose of the Cougars at the match’s outset, as Lehman’s group cruised to a 30-24 Game 1 win with ease. Goshen attacked at a .213 rate in the first game, consistently putting Spring Arbor behind with accurate serving and quality passing.
Things changed in the second game, however, where Spring Arbor roared back as Goshen hit at just a -.061 percentage and fell by a 30-25 score.
Following perhaps the most dominant stanza of the night — Goshen placed attacks for kills at a match-best .229 percentage in a 30-21 Game 3 win — Lehman’s pre Game 4 speech seemed prophetic. After falling behind by an 18-16 score, Goshen put together perhaps its most impressive scoring surge of the season, taking a 24-20 lead and never looking back.
“Statistically, we served well with the exception of a lapse in the second game and we passed well,” Lehman said. “We were able to direct tough serves to some of their struggling passers and this took them out of their offense at times. Our steady passes helped us to work through some of the rough spots we experienced in setting and attacking.”
Freshmen Kelsey Herschberger and Peni Acayo led the offense up front, each placing 16 kills. Herschberger attacked at a team-best .250 rate, while Acayo provided a .106 attack percentage. Sophomore Brittany Herschberger anchored the defense with 18 digs, while sophomore Ashley Janssen notched two solo and five assist blocks, all while charting 12 kills on a .107 clip.
Sophomore setter Alli Hawkins again ran the show for the entirety, finishing with 48 assists. The squad also posted 12 service aces — its second-highest mark of the season — with Brittany Herschberger providing three.
Goshen’s last MCC season-opening win came on Sept. 23, 2003, when the Leafs handed Grace College a 30-26, 30-11, 30-15 defeat. After being blanked in conference play last season, Wednesday’s win was a refresher: The Leafs’ last league win came on Oct. 5, 2005, when the team knocked off Huntington University 30-28, 26-30, 30-26, 30-25.
“We still have a lot of work to do on our offense and we need to tighten up on defense, but we have a group of mentally tough women who are intent on winning,” Lehman said. “We need to run more quick sets and deceptive play sets to compete with the top schools in our conference. We have some gaps in our defense and at times we are not making important adjustments as the play evolves. Our communication could be better and that is something we can control. I am excited about our potential though. We are playing very tough and hard right now, but we are not yet the team we can be. We are young and it is early in our season. I anticipate that we will get stronger and stronger as the season progresses.”
Goshen will have an idle weekend before returning to MCC play next week, as the Leafs will travel to league foe Taylor University on Tuesday night. Match time is set for 7 p.m. in Don J. Odle Arena.
|
Freshman Kelsey Herschberger