GARY, Ind. - After kicking off their conference campaign against Taylor, the Goshen College women's volleyball team traveled to Gary to take on IU Northwest in a non-conference match up. After taking the first set, the Maple Leafs lost 26-24, 25-21, 25-19, 25-22.
Early in the first set, both teams went on small runs, with the RedHawks pulling ahead 8-5, before the Leafs put together a 5-1 run to take the lead at 10-9. The set remained close until the teams were tied at 17, before GC scored five points unanswered. This sequence saw kills from Sami Lard and Armani Guidry-Austin, before the RedHawks called a timeout to talk things over.
Coming out of the timeout, the RedHawks went on a 7-2 run to bring the game to a tie at 24-24 forcing extra points, before two attack errors from the RedHawks gave GC the first set.
The momentum swung in favor of the Leafs and the RedHawks at points during the second set, with both putting together unanswered scoring runs of five or more. The RedHawks jumped out to a small lead early, scoring three points before GC could open their account for the set.
The Leafs then got the ball rolling for the set as Jessie Price scored one of her three service aces on the night. The RedHawks led 7-2, before the Leafs went on a 6-0 run, to take the lead for the first time in the set. The RedHawks then slowly worked their way back into the contest, with a service ace and a kill from Amie Schutz as well as a brace of kills from Kaelan Murphy to tie the game at 14.
Both teams then went back and forth for the remainder of the set until a small run gave the RedHawks a 24-21 advantage. An attacking error from Lard gave the RedHawks the set, tying the game at one apiece.
It was Goshen who jumped out to an early lead in the third set. The Leafs went on scoring runs and held the lead until the game was tied at 12. A large contributor was Sami Lard, who scored five of her 18 points on the night in the set, including two in a row off of sets from Bri Morris, to bring the score to 18-13. The score stood at 19-16 before the RedHawks scored nine unanswered points, including four GC attack errors, to win the set 25-19
The fourth set saw both teams continue to put together runs after regaining the ball, with only four instances where a team scored just one point before the other team got the ball back. The largest of these runs was a Leaf run of seven unanswered points to lead 10-7. Both the Leafs and the RedHawks exchanged four point runs to bring the game to a tie at 19.
With the score sitting at 24-20 to the RedHawks, a kill from Lard and an attacking error brought the Leafs within striking distance, before a kill from Raniyah Preston gave the RedHawks the set and ultimately the victory on a scoreline of 3-1.
Sami Lard had a career high 18 kills throughout the contest, bettering her previous 15 which came against Spartanburg Methodist. Jessie Price continued her run of good form from the service line with three service aces, which is a season high after recording two on four occasions.
Price also recorded a career high 15 digs, surpassing her previous best of 13 set earlier this season. Despite only having only 10 total attempts throughout the contest, junior Emese Southwick recorded a .700 hitting percentage.
Freshman Bri Morris recorded 38 of Goshen's 44 assists on the night. This was a career high for Morris, as she only recorded 29 assists in her five previous matches combined.
The Maple Leafs are back in conference action on Wednesday, Sep. 2, for their home opener as they take on the Marian University Knights.
