SPRING ARBOR, Mich. - Women's volleyball fell on the road to the Cougars of Spring Arbor after drawing them into a four set fight — the Maple Leafs came away with the loss 25-15, 23-25, 25-15, 25-18.
The Leafs hung with the Cougars in the first set for the first several points, but after a 7-0 run to take the lead 16-9, GC struggled to get back into the fight. Railynn Bowman picked up a few big kills to help the Leafs rally, but in the end it wasn't quite enough.
In the second set, the Leafs were once again the back foot as the scoreboard read 9-1 for the Cougars early on. However, GC went on two 6-0 runs in the set and managed to pull away from the Cougars, as a kill from Carmin Corey put the set to bed in favor of the Leafs.
The beginning of the third set was similar to the second, with Spring Arbor going on their own 6-0 to lead the Leafs 9-2 — this time however, the Leafs weren't able to claw their way back as an ace from the Cougars claimed the set.
The Leafs recovered in the fourth set to trade points back and forth for a while before the Cougars slowly started to pull away later in the set. GC was more consistently finding points of their own in this set, but just couldn't quite stop the Cougars.
Ava Schneider picked up her most kills in a Crossroads League matchup with nine, Mary Osten picked up her fifth conference matchup with more than 16 digs, and Carle Bruggema continues to bring a strong presence to the service line — she has had multiple in four of the last seven matches, while only having picked up two or more in two other total matches before this year.
The Maple Leafs are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 3 as they host their Homecoming tri-match, facing the University of Michigan-Dearborn at noon, and Calumet College of St. Joseph with a predicted first serve at 5 p.m.
