CHICAGO, Ill. – Another weekend tournament for the Maple Leafs and another solid overall performance against top-notch competition.
While Goshen was only able to pull out a 2-2 record at last weekend's Chicago Crossover Challenge hosted jointly by Saint Xavier University and Illinois Tech, the Leafs were able to continue to prove to themselves and the competition that they can play with the best of them.
After starting the Cornerstone Tournament a week ago with a bang – a 3-1 win over nationally ranked Walsh College (click here for related article) – this weekend's tournament started on a different note: a 25-26, 27-29, 11-25, 20-25 loss to Trinity International University.
"We started out the match strong, taking the first game by a fair margin," explained fourth-year head coach Jewel Lehman. "The second game we started struggling with serve receive and we tightened up. Trinity really picked up their game in the match, especially their backrow defense as everything was coming back and our poor passes inhibited our ability to run our offense."
After a historic freshman season, Peni Acayo has picked up right where she left off. Against Trinity, the Kampala, Uganda native tallied a team-high 19 kills, while hitting an astronomical 39%. Freshman Katelyn Yoder led the defense with 17 digs.
Off to a little bit of a rough start in the tournament, the Leafs hopes on bouncing back had to come against co-host Illinois Tech. In front of a raucous crowd, Goshen continued to struggle early before responding with a big 17-25, 28-26, 25-16, 25-13 win.
"I was concerned after the first game that we may not recover," said Lehman. "In the second game we pulled ourselves together and as the passes got better the attackers became more of a threat. Once the momentum swung our way, we were able to press into the third and fourth games fairly smoothly."
Acayo again led Goshen with 18 kills, while junior Ashley Janssen came off the bench to tally 17 kills. Janssen and fellow junior Lindsey Nofziger – 28 assists – filled in beautifully for banged up teammates as the Leafs needed a complete team effort to register the victory.
"I was extremely pleased to see the players pull together in this match regaining the confidence in each other and being persistent throughout," added Lehman.
The Maple Leafs got a little bit of a break in their first match Saturday morning as they played a much weaker squad from St. Catherine's College. Goshen swept the match 25-5, 25-13, 25-9, while hitting a tremendous .393 clip as a team. Gina Richard led the Leafs with seven kills, while Cassie Greives and Alicia Swartzentruber had five each.
The weekend finished with a 23-25, 22-25, 20-25 loss to a very strong Central Methodist squad.
"They had two Kenyan attackers on the team who play a lot like Peni," Lehman explained. "We had some difficulty stopping them at the net but we worked very hard and played with a lot of heart. It was a battle."
"If we take what we learned in these matches so that we can become better, it will be well worth it," said Lehman.
Planning to rest and recuperate the next two days so that they go into this week's match refreshed, the Maple Leafs will enter Mid-Central College Conference play on Wednesday. Goshen will host defending co-champions Taylor at 7 p.m.
"If we play like we can, this will be a wonderful match to watch! Confidence, patience and perseverance will be the keys."
Click Here For Complete 2008 Season News
|
