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Box Score 2 HUNTINGTON, Ind. — Elizabeth Breckbill finished the weekend with a .299 hitting percentage to lead all players at the two-day, six-team Huntington Forester Invitational, but the Goshen College women's volleyball team went home empty-handed Saturday in a pair of four-set losses to Baker University and Brescia University.
Jennifer Ritchie led the team with 11 kills in the day's opener, a 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-18 loss against Baker (3-1). The Wildcats posted 54 winners to Goshen's 44; all three of Baker's front-row starters hit .370 or better.
Haylee Pennington added 9 winners for the Maple Leafs (1-3), who got three aces from Shelbey Younts. Tessa Clark contributed 18 digs to lead the team, while Ritchie had 16 to finish off her third straight double-double.
Baker's Taylor Bell and Taylor Kile combined for 26 kills on 45 swings as the team hit .216. Nicole Johnson led all players with 23 digs
GC dropped the final match of the weekend to Brescia by a count of 25-18, 25-23, 15-25, 25-18. The Bearcats were also one of the three teams to go 3-1 and claim the mythical tournament title, joining Baker and Huntington.
Brescia got four kills and three aces from Melissa Bell in a 9-1 run that broke open the first set, then took four straight points to undo a 21-20 Maple Leaf lead in the second stanza. Goshen started the third on a 5-0 run and finished with eight straight points, but the Bearcats opened the fourth set 8-1 and never looked back.
Breckbill led all players with 6 blocks to go along with 8 kills, while Ritchie added 9 winners, 13 digs and 8 blocks. Freshman Courtney Trusty posted 18 digs to lead the team for the first time in her college career.
Bell and Natalie Jones each had 16 kills against 7 errors for the Bearcats, who also got 45 assists from Brittney Just and 22 digs from Kristin Lodgson. Goshen outblocked the Bearcats 8-3.
The Maple Leafs are off this week before playing another set of four matches in two days next weekend at the Michigan-Dearborn Early Bird Classic. That event begins with a match against Bluefield College at 2:30 p.m. Friday.