MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — The Goshen College women's volleyball team came up short in its longest road trip of the season Friday night, dropping a three-set decision to Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ariel Arena by set scores of 25-14, 25-16 and 25-21.
Mount Vernon Nazarene (16-2, 5-1), which received votes in the NAIA preseason coaches' poll before falling out last week, got 16 kills and 3 blocks from Nicole Winkler to go with 12 winners from Tory Small. Winkler added 10 digs to make it a double-double, but Ellie Ruby led all players with 27 in that category.
Goshen (3-14, 0-6) unearthed 58 digs in the match, one short of its season high and the most in a conference match since November of 2019. Sadie Brenneman pulled up a career-high 17 digs, marking the fifth double-digit match of the season and third in the last two weeks, to go with a team-high 8 kills.
The Cougars never won more than four points in a row in the first set, but they strung enough three- and four-point streaks together to push a 6-5 lead into a double-digit margin. Brenneman added a pair of kills to start a 5-2 Goshen response, but the team ran out of time as Winkler hit back-to-back aces to lock in the set.
After falling behind 10-5 out of the gate in the second, Goshen got a pair of winners from Brenneman and Gwyn Bellamy to pull back within three. MVNU answered with three straight rallies on Liz Long's serve to open an 18-12 lead and used three kills and an ace to end that set on another 4-0 run.
GC won four of the first six points to start the third set and was tied as late as 15-all before Long and Winkler each went on another serve run to produce a 9-2 Cougar rally. Goshen saved its first four match points with two Bellamy kills and a pair of attack errors.
Naomi Willis led Goshen with 13 assists and an ace. Christina Towne contributed 12 digs.
GC returns to the friendly confines of Ruth Gunden Gymnasium for its next three matches as the team prepares to turn the corner into the second half of the conference schedule. The Maple Leafs host Saint Francis at 3 p.m. Saturday.
