Lady Cougars move to 15-2 in the Crossroads League
The MVNU volleyball team (26-4) added three wins and one loss, beating out Huntington University 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-19), Taylor University 3-2 (24-26, 24-26, 25-18, 25-23, 18-16), falling to Indiana Wesleyan University 3-0 (23-25, 22-25, 23-25). They came back with a win last night against Goshen College 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-18).
Huntington University
On Tuesday sophomore Kristen Osborn racked up 11 kills against Huntington and senior Annelise Rohrer tallied 15 digs.
The win was the Cougars’ eighth straight conference win, improving their Crossroads League record to 13-1.
Taylor University
The Cougars struggled to push forward in the next match, falling behind 2-0 against Taylor on Friday. MVNU rallied to win the next three sets, clinching their 14th conference victory.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the ladies,” Cougars’ coach Paul Swanson said.
Swanson added that while it was an extremely tough match, the ladies showed great resilience.
"We beat a really good team tonight, and I’m really pleased with the way we played,” he said.
In the team effort, senior Carolyn Beatty and junior Ashley Gingerich stepped up for the Cougars.
Beatty finished the afternoon with an impressive 41 kill percentage, tallying a career high of 10 kills.
“In a time when we were struggling a little bit, she did a really good job,” said Swanson of Beatty. “She’s a really good athlete and competitor. She’s always ready.”
Junior Ashley Gingerich also set a new career high with 44 digs.
“Taylor is a great defensive team who we had a lot of long volleys with,” Gingerich said. “That led to high quality play and high statistics for the team.”
Gingerich added that battling back and winning the last three games was big for the Lady Cougar’s confidence.
“It was a great confidence boost for us heading into the regular season and tournament play.”
Indiana Wesleyan University
On Saturday, the Cougars saw their second conference loss of the season, this one again coming from Indiana Wesleyan University, who remains undefeated in league play.
“We played an outstanding team and played them really close in every game,” Swanson said, crediting Indiana Wesleyan University to finishing well.
“They finished well, which has been a characteristic of us,” Swanson said. “We’re eager to improve and maybe play them again.”
Junior Kelsey Bryte was happy with how the Cougars competed.
“I’m not disappointed with how we played, and we are excited about the possibility of playing them again,” Bryte said. “It was a well fought game. Both teams played well with lots of intensity which made it fun.”
Osborn finished the afternoon leading the Cougars offensively with 13 kills. Rohrer added in 11 kills and junior Ashley Gingerich tallied 19 digs.
Goshen College
Last night’s battle against the Maple Leafs added another victory for the Lady Cougars.
Osborn finished the night with 16 kills followed closely by Rohrer with 15. Gingerich contributed 19 digs for the defense.
The Lady Cougars (15-2) remain in second place in the Crossroads League, topped only by the undefeated Indian Wesley University (14-0).
They will return to the court on Thursday for a non conference competition against Ohio Christian University at Ariel Arena. The game will begin at 7:00 p.m. and can be streamed live at wnzr.tv.