GOSHEN, Ind. — Goshen College hosted its first set of back-to-back Crossroads League women's volleyball matches for the season, falling 25-22, 25-23, 25-11 to Marian University on Friday and 25-21, 25-10, 25-16 to Indiana Wesleyan University on Saturday in Gunden Gymnasium.

The weekend opener saw Goshen (7-10, 1-4) hit .282 with 13 kills in the second set, coming within two points of leveling the match after four kills from four players led to a 23-20 advantage. The Knights (12-3, 4-1) responded with a sideout, however, and used an ace and an assist from Olivia Gillum to tie the score before closing out the set.

That momentum carried over into the third set, with leads of 4-1 and 12-5 paving the way for the sweep. Kalyn Schreiber led all players with 13 kills and Anne Strevels added 5 blocks for Marian. Jennifer Ritchie contributed 8 digs and 6 kills for Goshen, tying for the team lead with Tessa Clark and Elizabeth Breckbill respectively.

The Maple Leafs finished with 29 kills, 6 aces and 2 blocks; in the latter two categories, they spread the team-leading wealth to six and four players.

Saturday, Indiana Wesleyan posted double-digit kill totals in all three sets en route to their fifth conference win. The Maple Leafs actually out-hit their Grant County foe in the first set according to hitting percentage, .242 to .235, thanks to six IWU errors and three GC blocks. Nevertheless, the Wildcats led for most of the set and took a 1-0 lead in the match.

IWU goaded GC into 8 hitting errors in the second set and proceeded to fire 17 kills in the third while putting up a single error. Three Wildcats finished the match hitting .200 or better with at least five attack tries per set: Kelly Miller finished with 13 kills and Marci Miller with 11.

Goshen again got six winners from Breckbill to lead the team while Naomi Willis added 8 digs and Shelbey Younts got 9 assists. IWU's Abigail Rutt led all players with 12 digs.

Notable Numbers:

14: Younts' assist total in both matches tied for Goshen's second-highest output in that category in a three-set match this season. Willis had 16 assists last Saturday against IU South Bend.

1.8: While GC's ace total didn't come from any single person (no player had more than one ace in either match), the Maple Leafs' average of 1.8 aces per set is their best in the 25-point-set era (since 2008).

3: Three of Goshen's next four matches will be played in Gunden Gymnasium

Up Next: Grace at Goshen — Wednesday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m.