SPRING ARBOR, Mich. — Taylor Eash led the Goshen College women's volleyball team with 9 kills Wednesday night in a three-set loss to Spring Arbor University at the McDonald Athletic Center.

The Cougars won the match 25-15, 25-18, 25-14, despite Goshen posting its three highest-scoring sets of the year in the loss.

McKenna Peters led all players with 11 kills for the Cougars (2-1, 2-1 Crossroads League), while Paige Porter added match highs with 3 aces and 16 digs to go along with 6 assists. Felicity Elkin recorded 11 digs for Goshen (0-3, 0-3) and Madi Simmons led the team with 20 assists.

Spring Arbor won a full 60 percent of its points in the last two sets via kills, posting 30 winners against 10 errors for a .253 hitting percentage in that span. Each team had as many miscues as kills in the first set. The Cougars had a 6-4 edge in blocks and a 7-4 margin in aces but nearly doubled Goshen's 20 kills with 37 of their own.

SAU started the match with six straight points and used another 5-0 run later in the set to go up 15-6, eventually pulling ahead by as many as 12. Goshen never led in the second set, but closed within a point on three occasions, including as late as 14-13 after back-to-back Eash kills. The Cougars got back-to-back Porter aces to spark a 4-point run that turned into a 7-2 spurt, making it 22-15, and Macey Rupp's kill gave the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Spring Arbor got four kills in its first seven points in the third set, opening a 13-5 lead on three straight winners from Claudia Ellis and McKenna Peters, and pulled ahead 18-7 on another Peters kill.

Goshen responded with a 6-2 run that included forcing three attack errors and a service error, but it would be too little, too late.

The Maple Leafs start a two-match homestand on Saturday against Taylor University. First serve is set for 3 p.m. in Gunden Gymnasium.