CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - Goshen went 1-1 while competing at Wabash College on Saturday, including winning their first match of the season. Goshen beat IU-East 25-19, 25-17, 25-16 before losing to Wabash 16-25, 25-18, 21-25, 23-25.

Goshen vs IU-East
The first set against IU-East saw six ties and four lead changes. Goshen was down a point 10-9 when they went on a 7-0 run with Ben Koop serving. That made the difference in the six-point first set win.

In the second set, Goshen never lost the lead after going up 2-1. In the third set, they had the lead the entire set.

Ishmail Bangura had 12 kills on just 15 total attempts with no attack errors for a hitting percentage of .800. Ben Koop had ten kills and a hitting percentage of .438. Andrea Biffi had four kills on four attempts with no errors for a 1.000 hitting percentage. The Leafs had a .475 hitting percentage for the match, including hitting at a .611 clip in the third set.

Igor Sapucaia had 27 assists. Biffi led the team with four block assists and Koop led with three aces.

Goshen vs Wabash
While Goshen's best set of their first match was the final one, the first set of their second match of the day would be their worst. Goshen scored just 16 points with eight kills and eight errors. Yet, they followed it with a 25-18 win in the second set, forcing the Little Giants to seven errors.

Wabash answered in the next set with 18 kills on the way to a 25-21 win. And though Goshen had 16 kills of their own in the fourth set, the host school still came out on top 25-23, winning the match 3-1.

The teams were evenly matched throughout. Both teams had 45 assists and six blocks. Wabash had a narrow lead in kills (50-48), digs (35-31) and aces (3-2).

Ben Koop had 21 kills in the match, a .390 hitting percentage, six digs and an ace. Ishmail Bangura contributed 13 kills and two solo blocks. Igor Sapucaia had 41 assists, averaging more than ten per set, and six digs. Bruno Barac had six kills, four digs, two solo blocks and two block assists. 

Goshen (1-2) is at the Pirate Invitational in Parkville, Missouri next Friday and Saturday. They start on Friday by facing Morningside at 1:00 pm EST and Kansas Wesleyan at 5:00 pm EST.