GOSHEN, Ind. — Fifty-six kills for the match and a .217 hitting percentage in the deciding set proved too much for the Goshen College volleyball team Friday night as visiting Bethel College finished a season sweep with a five-set victory in Gunden Gymnasium.

The Maple Leafs hut .281 in the opening stanza, the highest by either team in any set of the match, to win the first set 25-17, but the Pilots took the second just as easily to level the match with a 25-15 win.

Bethel (17-11, 8-5 Crossroads League) took an 8-5 lead in the third set using three straight kills from three different players, but Goshen (12-13, 4-10) fought back to level the set at 12 and again at 15. A string of errors from both sides put the Maple Leafs up 21-19 before the Pilots claimed a 25-21 win.

The fourth stanza proved even closer as neither team led by more than three points until Goshen pulled ahead 18-15, part of a seven-point run on MacKinnon Tracy's serve that helped seal a 25-17 win to square the match. But Bethel's attackers proved too much in the fifth as the Pilots broke open a 9-9 set to win 15-11.

Despite the match duration, no player managed more than 12 kills: Katy Anspach had that many for the Maple Leafs and Zoe Wolfenbarger led the Pilots with 11. More than an entire lineup of players (seven for Bethel and six for Goshen) finished with five or more.

Bethel managed to end 11 Goshen attacks with blocks, compared to nine stuffs for the home side. Sami Leach, Natalie Hubby and Lexa Magnuson were all credited with solos: Bethel's Amanda Brinkman had seven assists, while Veronica Dabrowski and Magnuson finished with five apiece.

Leach's 45 assists were a match high: Lisa Rodriguez had 20 assists and Kelsey Smith 14 for Goshen, which employs two setters to Bethel's one.

The Maple Leafs currently sit in eighth place in the Crossroads League, holding the final spot in the eight-team conference tournament if the season ended today. Goshen has a one-game lead on no. 9 Marian and trails St. Francis and Huntington, who are tied for sixth, by 1½ games.

Coach Jim Routhier's team will have a chance to meet the team it is chasing head-to-head on Wednesday when it hosts St. Francis in Gunden Gymnasium. The match is Professors Night, giving team members a chance to invite faculty personnel who have played significant parts in their college experience. First serve is set for 6 p.m.

More, including comments from Routhier, to come when available.