BELLEVUE, Neb. - The Maple Leafs lost their first two matches in the GoSarpy.com Classic in Bellevue, Nebraska on Friday. Morningside, a team receiving votes in the coaches poll, beat them in three sets and Doane won in five.

Goshen vs Morningside
Morningside scored the first seven points of the match, with three of the seven coming from aces. Goshen scored the next two points after using a timeout but the Mustangs increased their lead to 16-4. The teams each had nine of the next 18 points as Morningside won the set 25-13.

The second set went the other way around. Goshen looked strong at the start and the teams were tied at 11 when the Mustangs scored 14 of the next 16 points to go up 2-0. The teams were tied 7-7 in the third but Morningside had the lead for the rest of the match.

Goshen had no aces in the match, the first time since losing to defending NAIA National Champions Indiana Wesleyan on September 15 last year. On the other hand, Morningside had 12. Armani Guidry-Austin had seven kills and a .462 hitting percentage. Sadie Brenneman had seven kills and seven digs, but also seven reception errors. Kelsie Hankins had 22 assists.

Goshen vs Doane
Against Doane in the second match of the day, Goshen doubled up on the Tigers in the first set 8-4. Doane scored the next five to go up 9-8 and led late 23-18. Goshen scored five in a row thanks in part to two kills by Sadie Brenneman and an ace from Alaina Wolfe. However, the Tigers took a timeout and scored the next two to win the set. Goshen had another early lead in the second at 7-4 when Doane then scored seven straight. The Maple Leafs retook their lead at 16-15 and won the important points late to win 25-23.

GC carried the momentum into the third set - a set where Doane never held a lead. Goshen had a strong seven-point run with Alaina Wolfe serving that involved four kills from Brenneman. Goshen won it 25-12, but the Tigers recalibrated in time for the fourth set. Doane quickly took a 12-4 lead and this time the Leafs never had a lead in the set. Goshen scored the first four points in the last set, but when the teams were tied at 11 apiece, Doane won the final four points.

Sadie Brenneman had an astounding 28 kills. She added 14 digs, three aces and had a .300 hitting percentage. Alaina Wolfe had 22 digs and Kelsie Hankins had 48 assists. Brenna Spangler and Armani Guidry-Austin each had four block assists and eight digs.

On Saturday, the Leafs face University of Saint Mary (Kan.) at 12:30 pm eastern and #2 Northwestern College (Iowa) at 5:30 pm eastern.