MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — Danielle Plank made 18 digs and Whitney Peterson finished her freshman season with 16 kills, but the Goshen College volleyball team fell short of upsetting top-seeded Mount Vernon Nazarene University in a three-set loss Saturday afternoon in the Crossroads League quarterfinals.

The hosting Cougars won 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 as they moved to 31-1 on the season: Goshen falls to 16-18 despite hitting .200, 22 points above its season average, for the match.

Lexa Magnuson added nine kills for Goshen: Natalie Hubby, playing her final career match, posted six kills against only one error while also racking up four blocks.

The Maple Leafs had a slight advantage at the net, posting seven team blocks to Mount Vernon Nazarene's five. But the Cougars fired 56 winners in the three sets compared to Goshen's 42 and made 76 digs against Goshen's 69, which proved to be just enough to separate the teams.

"We knew Mount Vernon's weakness and kept chipping away at it," said Goshen head coach Jim Routhier. "We planned on pulling the upset and we played very well, but Mount Vernon was prepared for it. Our freshmen in particular were very pleased with the effort and performance as we build for the future."

Peterson hit .317 and Magnuson .286 for the Maple Leafs, but their hosts did not hit below .200 in any of the stanzas: Goshen's best mark of .302 in the third only matched MVNU's figure in that set.

Lisa Rodriguez finished with 21 assists and Kelsey Smith had 17. Rodriguez, Plank and MacKinnon Tracy all posted service aces.

The Maple Leafs, who graduate five seniors from this year's roster, will return five starters for their 47th season of varsity volleyball in 2015. For updates throughout the offseason, including recruit signings and all-conference awards, stay tuned to the official website of Goshen College athletics at GoLeafs.net.