GOSHEN, Ind. — The Goshen College men's volleyball team matched a program record with its eighth win of the season Thursday night, sweeping Robert Morris University 25-21, 25-13, 25-23 at Gunden Gymnasium.

Alexander Rabadzhiev led all players with 12 kills, Michael Wahl added 26 assists and 7 digs, and Ian Fox posted 4 blocks to come within one of the entire Robert Morris team.

Goshen (8-5) hit .423 in the second set and .282 in the match, forcing Robert Morris (1-8) into 34 aces to pick up almost half of the Maple Leafs' points. Conrad Para led the Eagles with 7 kills, but gave them back in the form of 8 hitting errors.

Charles Norman racked up 19 assists and Jordan Von Borstel had an ace and 2 blocks for RMU. Para led all players with three aces while Anthony Galeana paced the Eagles with 6 digs from his libero spot.

"We won tonight, but it was a rough match where we played just well enough to win," said head coach Jim Daugherty. "We struggled with our hitting and blocking. Robert Morris is a scrappy team that keeps the ball alive."

"We served well and Wahl set well," the coach continued. "He made great choices in setting our hitters to keep RMU from finding a rhythm on defense."

With the win, Goshen matched its win total from 2019, the first varsity season of Goshen College's 14th varsity sport. The Maple Leafs will have two more chances this week and 17 more this season to break the program record.

GC took the first lead of the first set, but gave it back as a 4-1 run included kills from Von Borstel and Para for the Eagles to tie things at 9. The Maple Leafs fell behind 13-11 before ripping off eight straight points on Rabadzhiev's serve to take a 19-13 lead. Robert Morris closed to 21-20 but made three errors in the last five points to give the hosts the first set.

The Leafs reeled off seven points in a row after a 2-2 start to the second set, never trailing on their way to a two-set lead. Goshen led by as many as 11 at 20-9, finishing the set on a 5-2 run behind two Rabadzhiev kills.

The Eagles had their best showing of the match in the third set, seizing control with a 5-point run that made it 7-2 and holding that lead until the final points. Goshen trailed by four as late as 20-16, but squared the set on its sixth chance, at 21-all. Kills by Rabadzhiev, Bennett and Rabadzhiev again made it 24-23 and an RMU attack error wrapped up the match.

Goshen has less than 24 hours to recuperate before wrapping up its three-match homestand against Trinity Christian College, the team that dealt GC its first loss of the season in the opener. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Gunden Gymnasium.