Hornets Finish Off Wilkinson's Gophers in Three Sets

WINCHESTER, Va. — Even after dropping the first two sets, Goucher had a shot at extending tonight's non-conference match against Shenandoah when it was up 24-23 and serving to win the third set. The Hornets, however, came out of a timeout and claimed the next three points to complete a three-set sweep of head coach Kelli Wilkinson's Gophers.

Set scores were 25-13, 25-20, 26-24.

Two of Shenandoah's final three points were earned on kills by Kaitlyn Kelley, the only player for either team to finish the match with as many as 10 kills. Goucher's leader in kills was Kelly Budge (Harrington Park, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan) with six.

The Gophers (9-21) had to use a timeout before they tallied their first point of the match on a service error by the Hornets (15-13).

Goucher grabbed a quick 3-0 advantage in the second set and one of Budge's kills provided the vistors with their final lead of the set at 16-15. The only points the Gophers picked up the rest of the way were from two attack errors and one service error by the Hornets and a kill by Hannah Kuehl (Plymouth, N.H./Plymouth Regional).

Goucher's Val Kirsch (Westport, Conn./Staples) was credited with a match-high 12 digs.

The Gophers will wrap up their 2014 campaign on Thursday when they head up Interstate-95 to battle Bryn Mawr in a non-conference match scheduled to get under way at 7 p.m.