Gophers Turn Back Saints for First Time Since 1998
TOWSON, Md. - As a member of the Capital Athletic Conference, Goucher lost its last 12 encounters with Marymount. But the Gophers' fortunes against the Saints apparently changed this year with the switch to the Landmark Conference.
Gophers Turn Back Saints for First Time Since 1998
Kendall Moves Closer to All-Time Leaders with 15 DigsSept. 13, 2007
TOWSON, Md. - As a member of the Capital Athletic Conference, Goucher lost its last 12 encounters with Marymount. But the Gophers' fortunes against the Saints apparently changed this year with the switch to the Landmark Conference.
Even after dropping the first game of the match, the Gophers came back this evening to defeat the Saints, 3-1, for the first time since 1998. Game scores were 27-30, 30-19, 30-19, 30-17.
With the win, the Gophers also improved to 10-2 against non-conference opponents in the Sports & Recreation Center during head coach Michael Bossom's regime.
The Gophers (5-4) trailed from the outset in the first game of the match, falling behind 14-6. They managed to catch the Saints (1-4) at 18-18, but were never able to take the lead.
But then Goucher never trailed in the next two games. Fueled by a pair of service aces by Catie Ditmore (Santa Barbara, CA/Laguna Blanca), the Gophers reeled off the first six points in the second game, and in the third game, they took command with a run of seven unanswered points to open up a 15-4 advantage.
The fourth game was also close through the first 24 points, but a powerful kill by Megan Smith (Honolulu, HI/Long Beach Polytechnic) capped a run of 10 consecutive points that put the Gophers comfortably ahead at 24-10.
Smith and Kasey Quinn (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) both contributed 12 kills to the victory and Ditmore was credited with a season-high 26 assists and five service aces. Sarah Kendall (North Plainfield, NJ/Rutgers Prep), who is closing in on Goucher's all-time leaders in digs, furnished the Gophers with 15 digs and five service aces.