Gophers Fall to No. 1 and No.2 in Landmark

The Gophers took on the #1 seeded Juniata Eagles and #2 seeded Susquehanna River Hawks to complete Landmark Conference play

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Gophers Fall to No. 1 and No.2 in Landmark
October 17, 2016

The Gophers took on the #1 seeded Juniata Eagles and #2 seeded Susquehanna River Hawks to complete Landmark Conference play on Saturday, October 15th, and came away with 3 set losses in both matches by the scores of 25-18, 25-10, 25-13 and 25-18, 25-18 and 25-17.   Despite the losses the Gophers earned respect by virtue of their play.  So much so that Goucher’s Head Coach, Kait Kozak, made this observation:  “I am very pleased with the way we played against two very strong opponents.  Our effort and mental toughness was at its best. We continue to see improvements from all players, and that is an indicator that we are doing things right in the practice gym.”

Against the Juniata Eagles, freshman Sarah Weeden (Monmouth Junction, NJ)led the Gophers with 12 kills and 7 digs, while senior Meredith Johnson (Ridgewood, NJ)added 6 kills and 10 digs.  The Gophers started off strong, before the Eagles broke a 3-3 tie in the first set with seven straight points to go ahead 10-3. The Gophers were able to close the gap to five points at 16-11 but the Eagles increased their lead to 20-11 and held off Goucher to take a 1-0 lead in the set. The Eagles took charge in set two and three.  The Eagles led  the third set with eight straight points to go up 8-0. At 14-6, Goucher was able to get to 14-10 but an 11-3 Juniata run ended any hope of a Gopher comeback as the Eagles won 25-13.
In the second match of the day, the Gophers lead the Susquehanna River Hawks 2-0 before SU went on a 12-2 run to take a 10-point lead (13-3). The Gophers scored five unanswered points to come within three (24-21) but it was not enough as a Natalie Arm kill ended the set.   Goucher led at the beginning of the second set 4-2 before a kill from SU tied the game at six. The Gophers tied the set at 10 with an attacking error from SU's Arm but SU out-scored Goucher 15-8 for the remainder of the set to win 25-18.  SU took an early 10-5 lead in the third set on a Julie Kreutzer service ace but the Gophers responded with a five-point run to tie the game at 10. A kill by the  River Hawks gave them an eight-point lead (22-14) but the Gophers scored three points in succession to come within five (22-17).  However, it was not enough as SU won 25-18.  Weeden and Johnson led the Gopher squad with 20 kills and 21 digs combined.  
 

The Gophers continue non-conference play on Wednesday, October 19th , when they travel to play at York College.