Gophers Go 2-1 in Weekend of Landmark Matches

Smith Slams 20 Kills in Thrilling Five-Set Win Over Greyhounds

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — For Goucher, the first weekend of Landmark Conference matches began with a three-set loss to the two-time defending champions. But head coach Michael Bossom's Gophers rebounded to defeat Merchant Marine, 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 28-26), in their second match on Saturday and then came back from being down two sets to register a thrilling 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-8) victory over Moravian this afternoon.

Against Moravian (11-11, 2-1 Landmark), the Gophers not only dropped the first two games, but they also trailed 22-16 in the third set following a run of eight consecutive points by the Greyhounds. Kills from the back row by Megan Smith (Honolulu, Hawaii/Long Beach Polytechnic) provided the points that put Goucher ahead 23-22 and also created a 24-24 tie, and then Moravian committed back-to-back hitting errors to conclude the set.

The Gophers (10-9, 2-1 Landmark) also had to overcome a 15-10 deficit in the fourth game, but went ahead for good on a kill by Ashley Fan (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) that snapped a 16-16 tie.

Smith contributed team-high totals of 20 kills and 24 digs to the Moravian match. Fan and Rebecca Schaefer (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) both finished with 20 digs and Claire Sauvage-Mar (New Delhi, India/American Embassy School) was credited with 41 assists.

Smith also had a double-double of 13 kills and 14 digs against the Mariners (8-6, 0-2 Landmark) in the other match the Gophers won over the weekend.

Goucher assumed leads of 4-1 and 5-2 over Juniata (13-2, 1-0 Landmark) in the opening game of Friday's match, but the Eagles, who were at No. 2 in the Division III national rankings, stormed back to prevail 25-17, 25-13, 25-19.

Collin Wallace turned in a 12-kill, 15-dig performance for the Eagles, who recorded a .315 team hitting percentage.