GOSHEN, Ind. – Led by 16 kills from
Sadie Brenneman and three late, pivotal aces from first-year
Sydney Stutsman, the Goshen Maple Leafs beat the Calumet College of St. Joseph in five sets on Friday night. The Leafs lost to Rochester in four sets in their first match of the day.
In the other matchup of the Goshen College Tri-Match, CCSJ beat Rochester in five sets (25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-6), making each team 1-1 for the day.
After a quick 10-3 lead over Rochester in the first set, Goshen held the lead at 14-7 but ended up losing the set 24-26. The Leafs won the second set 25-22 before dropping the next two, 12-25 and 17-25.
Amy Baca, Brenneman,
Kia Knox-Dawkins,
Emily Lynch, and
Brenna Spangler all had six or more kills in the match.
Kennedy Land had 17 digs, and
Jaelyn Amhdar posted 24 assists. Hailee Mancogna tallied 20 kills for the Warriors, and Charlotte Warner totaled 35 assists.
In their second go-around, Goshen got off to a shaky first set against the Crimson Wave of CCSJ. The visitors won the first set 25-21, throttled by a 5-0 run in the middle and a 6-0 run to end the set. However, the Leafs looked much better in the second set, winning it 25-18. They had 16 kills and just four errors in the set and increased their hitting percentage from .000 in the first to .343 in the second.
Goshen won the third set 25-21, but the Crimson Wave won the fourth, 26-24, despite a late push by GC. CCSJ built up a 12-9 lead in the final set before a kill by
Emily Lynch started a streak of five successful serves from
Sydney Stutsman, with three of those points being service aces. Goshen won the set 15-12.
Goshen won the stat sheet in aces (8-5), assists (64-47), kills (68-53), and digs (104-87). Brenneman led all players on the court with 16 kills, Stutsman had four aces and 35 assists, and
Kassidy Faler racked up 27 digs. Knox-Dawkins and Spangler were a part of three blocks each.
These three opponents will show what they've learned from today's matches as they all face each other again on Saturday. Goshen plays Rochester at 11:00 am, Rochester is the home team against CCSJ at 1:00 pm, and Goshen hosts CCSJ at 3:00 pm.
