COLUMBIA, Ky. - The Goshen women's volleyball team kicked off the 2025-26 school year for Maple Leafs athletics on Friday while competing at the Roar and Raid Invitational held at Lindsey Wilson College. The Maple Leafs lost to Tennessee Wesleyan in four sets (20-25, 14-25, 25-19, 21-25) and to Johnson (Tenn.) in three sets (19-25, 23-25, 18-25).
Goshen vs Tennessee Wesleyan
The first match of the day was a tale of two halves for the Leafs. While they were outscored by 16 over the first two sets, Goshen outscored the Bulldogs by two over the last two sets. The Leafs were up 18-11 in the fourth set before Tennessee Wesleyan called a timeout and ended the match on a 14-3 run, including the final six points of the match.
Freshman
Nevaeh Benjamin (Las Cruces, N.M.) led the Maple Leafs in kills with 11, followed by freshman
Addison Ross (Goshen, Ind.) with eight.
Sydney Stutsman had 19 assists and
Kelsie Hankins provided 11. The 19 assists are the most that Stutsman has had in a match since totaling 26 at Huntington on October 22, 2022.
Alaina Wolfe led all players on the court with 18 digs, and
Kassidy Faler and
Sami Lard also had double-digit digs. Goshen had eight blocks as a team compared to two for the Bulldogs.
Armani Guidry-Austin had four block assists and Ross added three.
Brenna Spangler and Kentucky native
Carmin Corey contributed Goshen's two solo blocks.
Goshen vs Johnson
The Maple Leafs had an attack percentage of .180 in the first match, but it dipped to .000 in the second contest. Down one set to none, GC nearly tied it up in the second set when they took a 15-21 deficit and scored seven points in a row to go up 22-21. Johnson used a timeout, and they were able to turn the tables and win four of the last five points to take the set and eventually the match.
Wolfe added another 18 digs - a portion of Goshen's 61 as a team. Stutsman had 15 assists and a pair of aces. Guidry-Austin led in the kills category with eight and
Brenna Spangler in block assists with four. Benjamin had six kills and three block assists, and Hankins had 12 assists, nine digs and an ace.
On day two of two for the tournament, Goshen will face Spartanburg Methodist College at 10:00 am EDT and Loyola University New Orleans at 2:00 pm EDT.
