After Going Distance With UMD, Goshen Volleyball Sweeps Fisk
Vanitvelt posts season-high 10 winners as team moves to 5-3
DEARBORN, Mich. — Goshen College swept a volleyball tri-match from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Fisk University on Friday, coming back from dropping the first set against the hosts to win six of the next seven stanzas at the UMD Fieldhouse.
Darienne Maust paced the Maple Leafs with 22 kills and nine blocks, including 13 and eight respectively in the first match (against Michigan-Dearborn). Christy Swartzendruber added 33 digs on the day and turned in five kills in the second match. Meghan Gerke added five blocks and Hallie Vanitvelt 10 kills in the opener, while Taylor Eash tossed in five winners in the nightcap.
Goshen (5-3) and Michigan-Dearborn (1-1) exchanged 25-20 set wins to open the day before Goshen won a tight third set: neither team led by more than three points before the Maple Leafs claimed the final point to win 25-21. The Wolverines used an 11-3 run that extended to 19-9 as they won the fourth set 25-18, but a 6-1 GC run put the visitors up 7-4 in the final stanza. UMD would claw back to tie the score six more times, last at 13-all, before an Eash winner and an attack error gave GC the 15-13 win.
The Maple Leafs knocked off Fisk (0-2) by a margin of 25-16, 25-14, 25-12 in just more than an hour. Point-by-point stats were not available at the time of publication.
“UM-Dearborn was a good team and both teams played a solid, all-around good match,” said Goshen coach Jim Routhier. “We played very well against Fisk. They struggled to hit over or around our block and hit quite a few balls out of bounds.”
Goshen put up a season-high 14 blocks against Michigan-Dearborn and their 45 kills were the second-most of the year. GC’s .337 hitting percentage in the second match was a season high.
The Maple Leafs conclude their season-opening nine-match road trip at Huntington on Wednesday with first serve set for 7 p.m.; the match is the Crossroads League opener for both clubs.