The Goshen Maple Leafs surprised the Cougars early with wins in the first two sets. Hoping to avoid being swept, SAU made a furious comeback in the third set that greatly changed the momentum of the match, but Goshen was able to quiet the Cougars in the fourth set.
With two set wins already under their belts, the Leafs appeared to be well on their way to a game three blowout over the Cougars, scoring nine unanswered points to go up 14-6. SAU clawed their way to find four points, but they quickly found themselves looking at a 20-10 deficit. The end of the night looked near for the Cougars.
For senior captain Annie Jones, however, the night was far from over.
“I just know that I have to come out and bring a spark and that when we all go out on the court we have to light the flame, light the fire. I was sitting out, and as soon as it was my turn to come in I knew that I had to go in and just light a fire for my teammates,” said Jones.
Jones did just that, coming off the bench to set a spark in her teammates, who rallied to score nine unanswered points against Goshen, bringing Spring Arbor within one. Although the Leafs would go on to score twice more, it was not enough to stop what Jones started as the Cougars cruised past the Leafs to finish the comeback with a 25-23 set victory.
Although the momentum of game three helped the Cougars take an early lead in the fourth set, Goshen found their game in time to stop the miraculous comeback from continuing. Head coach Carol Gates, although excited about her team’s play in the third set, remained frustrated about the Cougars’ overall performance.
“That’s the team I know is within them [in game three]; they just came out and they started pushing back at the other team and took back control of the match. Then, in set four we let them start to get a momentum on us again and we put ourselves in a position where you have to play perfect. When you put yourself in [that] position it’s very hard to control what’s going on inside your emotions to be able to play aggressive,” Gates said.
It was the first two games that put Spring Arbor in such a position, as the Cougars were not ready for Goshen’s offense. Although they remained even with the Leafs for most of the first game, Spring Arbor had trouble finishing and came up on the losing side of a 25-20 decision.
The team rebounded and kept an early lead in the initial stages of game two. Unfortunately, errors would cost the Cougars a lead they would never get back, ultimately dropping the second set 23-25. However, the team played much stronger in the second game, due in large part to sophomore CJ Anderson, who finished the match with six blocks and 12 kills.
“I thought CJ played well,” said coach Gates, “she’s just a sophomore so she’s going to make a few errors here and there, but overall I thought she is definitely emerging as a player that can be dominant.”
Despite a home loss, coach Gates remains optimistic about the team’s upcoming games.
“Every time you have a loss it’s always hard, [but] our approach isn’t going to change,” Gates said. “We have to stay with the offense and defense that we know is successful. Every great team is going to take a couple dents here and there—it’s how they respond to it.”
The Cougars finish out the season on the road playing in the Cornerstone University Tournament as well as two remaining conference games. The MCC Conference Tournament begins Nov. 8.
