GOSHEN, Ind. - The Maple Leafs men's volleyball team picked up their first win of the season in a conference match against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on Friday night in Gunden Gymnasium. Led by career-highs from Ishmail Bangura and Wyatt Bollinger, Goshen won in four sets.

The Pomeroys came out strong, winning the first six points and forcing a GC timeout. But the Leafs battled back and tied it up at 16. Goshen even built a four-point lead only to see it disappear after four straight points from SMWC. Yet the Leafs ended the set on a 4-1 run.

"We started the match too tentative and weren't playing our game," said interim head coach Jewel Lehman. "I was pleased we were patient and pushed through and then were able to pull together for the win."

The momentum carried over to the second set, as Goshen started on an 11-1 run. For most of the first set and the beginning of the second, the Leafs were on a 36-17 run. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods cut the lead to five when Goshen scored five straight to take their lead to double digits again. The Leafs cruised to a 25-13 victory in the second.

It was a much different scene in the third, as the Pomeroys had a .308 hitting percentage, and Goshen had too many errors, resulting in a 25-18 win for the visitors. Goshen finished the match on a 16-4 run in the fourth to win 25-12 and take the match.

"Overall, we did a lot of things well," shared Lehman. "We must get tougher and more consistent with our game to beat teams in this conference."

Ishmail Bangura had a career-high 22 kills - the same number as his first two matches combined. Transfer Wyatt Bollinger had 38 assists in the match. His best mark at Eastern Mennonite University was 31. Goshen had 11 aces as a team, the fourth-most in program history. Pablo Sanchez led the team with 11 digs. Service errors remain a weak spot for the team - they had 16 tonight.

Lehman becomes the second coach in school history to record a win as both a men's coach and a women's coach for the same head-to-head sport at Goshen. Current men's and women's tennis head coach Evan Atkinson is the other.

This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods is in its inaugural season playing men's volleyball in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, and the Pomeroys primarily compete in the River States Conference. The teams face each other again tomorrow, February 4, in Gunden Gymnasium at 1:00 pm. "It's tough to beat a team twice in a row," said Lehman. "We will have to enter the gym with a big desire to win and play with a lot of heart."