The Goshen College women’s volleyball team traveled to Bethel College last Friday for a conference matchup and hosted a tri-match the following afternoon.

Friday’s game was the Maple Leafs’ second conference matchup on the year. During the first set, neither team dominated until the scoreline hit 12-11 to Goshen. It was at that point that the Leafs pulled away to win the opening set 25-15.

But in the second set, Goshen fell behind early on. The Maple Leafs failed to recover and Bethel went on to win the set 13-25.

In the third set, Goshen took the lead at 10-6, but the Pilots fought back and the Maple Leafs had no answer. Bethel took set three 20-25 and carried their momentum into the fourth by defeating the Maple Leafs 25-14 to win the game.

After a night’s rest, Goshen returned to action the day on their home court to host Siena Heights University and Indiana University South Bend in a tri-match.

The day’s events began at 11 a.m. when the Maple Leafs faced the Saints of Siena Heights University. Goshen came out of the gates slow as Siena Heights took the first game 18-25.

The Maple Leafs responded in the second set that saw kills from both sophomore Taylor Eash and senior Hallie Vanitvelt. Goshen won the set 25-15.

The ten-point lead wasn’t enough for the Maple Leafs to carry their winning ways into the third set. Siena Heights took the set 19-25, but it was the last set that the Saints would win.

The Maple Leafs won the fourth set 25-17 to take the game into the fifth and final set. It was at this point that the Leafs held their nerve and won 15-10 to take the game.

Vanitvelt led the Maple Leafs with fifteen kills, followed by Ritchie who added ten. Senior MacKinnon Tracy led the Maple Leafs with four aces; junior Ally Roehr added three.

In their second of two games, the Maple Leafs took on Indiana University South Bend at 4 p.m. The first set was a close competition that saw big kills from Richie and first-year Haylee Pennington. But it wasn’t enough to defeat the Titans who won the set 21-25.

In the second set, Goshen took a 9-5 lead as Vanitvelt and Ritchie played a key role in building the advantage. IUSB eventually caught up to the Maple Leafs when the scoreline hit 18-18. Goshen took the lead once again at 23-18, but the Titans would go on a seven-point scoring run of their own to win 23-25.

GC was playing catch up for the majority of the third set, however the Maple Leafs would catch the Titans at 17-17. It was another tight set, but the Titans once again went on another scoring run. After Goshen had seven ball-handling errors to the Titans zero, IUSB won the set 19-25 which completed the sweep over the Maple Leafs.

Vanitvelt and Ritchie once again lead the Maple Leafs in kills: Vanitvelt with 12 and Ritchie with eight. As Goshen went 1-2 during their weekend stretch, their record now stands at 7-7 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. The Maple Leafs are looking for a win this Wednesday as they travel Fort Wayne to take on 12th ranked University of Saint Francis.