DEARBORN, Mich. — The Goshen College women's volleyball team bounced back for a pair of splits this weekend at the University of Michigan-Dearborn Early Bird Classic.

After dropping the opening match of the event to Lawrence Technological University, GC (5-4) used 37 winners and a .304 hitting percentage to sweep the hosts in their second match behind 12 Hallie Vanitvelt kills and 7 winners each by Jennifer Ritchie and Taylor Eash. Elizabeth Breckbill added five blocks while Ritchie and Meghan Manley chipped in three aces each.

Saturday morning, the Leafs pushed NAIA no. 20 Madonna to the brink of its first loss before dropping an 18-16 fifth-set decision. Breckbill's fourth kill of the set capped a three-point GC spurt to give the team a match point at 15-14, but the Crusaders took four of the next five points to keep their undefeated season alive. Breckbill paced the team with 12 winners and four blocks.

Goshen cruised through its final match of the day, dropping just 35 points in a three-set victory over Columbia International University of South Carolina. GC hit .438 for the match and didn't commit an attack error in the final stanza, racking up 38 kills against three errors for the day. Vanitvelt (8 kills), Eash (7) and Haylee Pennington (6) all posted error-free hitting. Ritchie and MacKinnon Tracy added four aces each and GC's defense forced the Rams into more errors than kills.

Vanitvelt led the team with 34 winners on the weekend, outpacing Breckbill's 26 and Eash's 22, but Pennington topped all three of them with a .384 hitting percentage. Ritchie recorded nine aces in the 14 sets while Ally Roehr accumulated 41 assists and Shelbey Younts 37. Breckbill's 12 blocks and Ritchie's 51 digs were also team highs.

For more details on any of the matches, click below to see the box scores.

Friday: Lawrence Tech def. Goshen 25-21, 25-10, 25-17

Friday: Goshen def. Michigan-Dearborn 25-17, 25-17, 25-15

Saturday: #20 Madonna def. Goshen 25-19, 24-26, 25-12, 22-25, 16-14

Saturday: Goshen def. Columbia International 25-13, 25-13, 25-9

Goshen opens its conference slate on Wednesday when the Maple Leafs return home to host Huntington University. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Gunden Gymnasium.

More, including comments from GC head coach Jim Routhier, to come when available.