women’s volleyball
October 23, 2025
Women’s volleyball celebrate series sweep
Despite a shaky start to the season, Goshen College Women’s Volleyball swept the season series against St Francis, beating the Cougars 3-2 on Saturday in Fort Wayne This was the first time that the Maple Leafs have swept the season series with the Cougars since 2015. It was also the first time they had a series sweep at all and a five-set win on the road since 2019. Jeff Phillips, head coach of women’s volleyball, said that he was particularly satisfied about getting the series sweep this year. “It represents the chance to finish above a team in the conference...
October 10, 2024
Volleyball: A season update
The Goshen College women’s volleyball team approaches the midpoint of their season with a record of 1-8 in conference and 6-19 overall. While the team will be looking to improve in some areas moving into the second half of conference play, they have also experienced several successes and highlights that they’ve been deliberate about working towards. “This year we’re really working to be really intentional,” said Bailee Brown, sophomore pyscology major, when asked about the achievement of team goals, “rebuilding the culture and just having a good bond within the team.” Brown currently has the teams’ second highest stats in...
September 12, 2024
Notable athletic performances of the week 9-12-2024
Stephen Bandi Bandi provided two assists in Goshen’s impressive 5-3 win against Indiana Northwest. While Bandi was playing, for the entire first half and the last ten minutes of the second half, the Leafs didn’t concede a single goal. His assist and defensive contributions in the game against Indiana Northwest helped propel the team to their second consecutive home win. Makiah McCain McCain faced 11 shots in the women’s soccer game against Siena Heights, making an astounding 10 saves and keeping the team in the game for 83 of the 90 minutes. The game ended in a 1-1 draw,...
January 25, 2024
Volleyball preseason preview
This Saturday, the Goshen College men’s volleyball team will open their season with a game against Lakeland University at home. They will debut their season with new leadership and new faces. Last season, the Leafs managed an overall record of 9-12 and a conference record of 7-11; they are currently ranked No. 7 in the WHAC preseason poll. Jeff Phillips is new at the helm, taking on the positions of head coach and director of volleyball this year. Accompanying him is Wyatt Bollinger ’23, a former setter who has stepped up to take on a role as associate head coach....
November 9, 2023
Representing your ethnicity
The Black and African-American population only represents 11% of Goshen College’s student-athletes, and yet, 68% of traditional students who are Black and African-American are student-athletes, according to Justin DeWeese, assistant athletic director of communications. Brielle Agnew is one of the Black athletes on campus, and the only Black woman on the volleyball team. Agnew, a senior majoring in biology, said that her background in volleyball has been much the same her whole life: mostly “white, skinny, blonde girls with long hair. That’s what it started as, and that is what it was when I first started playing. It’s probably more...
October 12, 2023
Volleyball wins no. 8
The women’s volleyball team earned their eighth win on Saturday during homecoming weekend, which gave the Leafs their most wins since 2017. Goshen defeated Indiana University South Bend in four sets. GC won the first set 25-17 and continued their strong performance with 16 kills in a second-set win over the Titans, 25-15. The Titans came back in the third set with a 25-15 victory over the Leafs, but GC responded quickly with a 25-11 victory in the fourth set to close the match out. Emily Lynch, a junior, picked up 16 kills in the game — the most she...
September 8, 2023
Volleyball digs deep
The Goshen College women’s volleyball team is off to an explosive start this season. After their first nine games, they have a record of 6-3 — a stark comparison to the first nine games last year, in which they had a 1-8 record. With the new season, the Leafs have introduced a new head coach in Jeff Phillips, along with assistant coach Wyatt Bollinger. Sophomore Kassidy Faler, who plays libero, expressed her thoughts about the coaching changes. “I like the new philosophy,” she said. “It is really big on team, community, and accepting your role on the team and that...
February 23, 2023
Phillips named new women’s volleyball coach
Last Monday, Jeff Phillips was announced as the new head coach of the Goshen College women’s volleyball team. Phillips is the 12th head coach in the program’s history. Previously, he coached on-and- off at Wawasee High School, where he had a winning record of 146-119 across the span of seven years. He served in coaching positions at two other northern Indiana schools, spending two years at Warsaw High School and one year at Tippecanoe Valley High School. Phillips was also a head coach at Empowered Volleyball Club in Fort Wayne, Indiana and program coach for the Outland Volleyball Club. Additionally,...
December 1, 2022
Cross-country ranks at nationals; Leafs receive honors
The Goshen College men’s cross-country team entered the NAIA National Championship race ranked 26th in the nation. “Having experience at nationals, we know that a lot of people go out way too hard,” head coach Rustin Nyce said. “In order to not get caught up in that … we raced smart and patient. We went out fast enough, but everybody else went out faster.” The race strategy worked well for the Maple Leafs. Between the 1.17 kilometer mark (the first timing checkpoint, where the Leafs sat in 31st position) and the finish line, Goshen’s seven runners combined to pass 581...
November 10, 2022
Crawford’s GC coaching career comes to a close
On Thursday, Nov. 3, Goshen College parted ways with women’s volleyball head coach, Kourtney Crawford. The decision comes after three consecutive winless years in the Crossroads League for the volleyball team. In that stretch, the Leafs went 0-51 in conference play and 6-78 overall. In total, the team held a record of 14-105 (6-78 in the Crossroads League) under Crawford. With a winning percentage of .117 in her four years at Goshen, the separation is perhaps unsurprising to many. Still, the volleyball team is reeling from Crawford’s departure. Gwyn Bellamy, a junior and captain on the team, described Thursday as...
October 28, 2022
Volleyball fights through adversity: An interview
With a 3-0 loss last night to Spring Arbor University, the Goshen College women’s volleyball team fell to 2-29 overall. The Leafs remain winless in the Crossroads League, now bearing a 0-16 record. The team has just two games left: a Friday night home matchup against Taylor University, and their final match of the season on Saturday at Bethel University. The team hopes to close the season with a strong showing, as they try to break their 21-game losing streak. Sophomore captain Sadie Brenneman shared her thoughts on the past year and all that came along with it. Brenneman is...
September 8, 2022
Women’s soccer beats Golden Bears 6-0 and more: Weekend recap
A strong weekend for the Goshen College women’s soccer team was capped off by a Labor Day win over the West Virginia University Institute of Technology, as the Maple Leafs handed the Golden Bears a 6-0 drubbing. With goals from six different players — a feat that has not occurred since 2012 — the Leafs took control of the game from the first minute and never relinquished it. “We have a lot of players that are staying after training, coming before training, so I think this result speaks to them and to what they’re willing to put in outside of...
September 16, 2021
Women’s volleyball turns over a new leaf
After a grueling 2020 season filled with adversity and COVID-19 interruptions, the Goshen College women’s volleyball team’s record stood at 0-15. Fast forward a year later, and the team already has three wins under their belts with more than half the season left to play. Head coach Kourtney Crawford said, “I’m excited about the improvement that my team has made, from this season to last.” “It is a major turn around, but I’m not satisfied with just improving,” she said. During the off-season, Crawford focused heavily on recruiting kids that were just as passionate about the sport as she is....
September 21, 2019
Women’s volleyball fall against Mount Vernon
Goshen College women’s volleyball fell 3-1 against Mount Vernon Nazarene University in a conference matchup on Tuesday. After losing the first two sets to the Cougars, Goshen College continued to up their intensity, even after falling behind 9-4 in the third set. Goshen College tied the score again at 18 with the help of a four point run and back-to-back aces from junior Shelbey Younts and an ace from junior Jennifer Ritchie. Haylee Pennington, a sophomore, had three kills in the third to seal the set win. But the Maple Leafs’ lifeline was not enough. In the fourth set, Mount...
September 5, 2019
First set win not enough to propel Leafs against Campbellsville
The Goshen College women’s volleyball team fell to the Tigers of Campbellsville University 3-1 on Saturday, Aug. 31. The Maple Leafs came out strong, winning their first set 25-21. But Campbellsville took over the following three sets, winning them 21-25, 25-15, 25-1 and 25-17. The set scores, however, were misleading, as GC and Campbellsville battled back and forth. In the second set, the Maple Leafs forced a 9-all tie before the Tigers went on a 9-2 run and the set got away from the Leafs. Goshen College also held early leads in the third and fourth sets, but the Tigers...