SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – Trailing two sets to one, the Spring Arbor University volleyball team rallied back to knock off Goshen College 3-2 (25-19, 13-25, 14-25, 27-25, 16-14) in front of an electric crowd inside the SAU Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Junior Rebekah Kujat fueled the comeback with a match-high 26 kills, including 13 over the final two sets. Freshmen setters Annica Stotz and Kasey Follis orchestrated the attack with a combined 47 assists while senior Kayleigh Bytwerk and sophomore Leah Rose anchored the defense with 34 and 30 digs – both career-highs.
Spring Arbor started strong jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead to begin the match. After Goshen (8-7, 2-6 CL) closed the gap to two, 10-8, the Cougars used a 12-6 run to break things open and grab the first set.
The Maple Leafs answered, however, claiming the next two sets. In the fourth set, the visitors looked to put SAU away opening up a 12-6 advantage, but the Cougars would respond. A series of GC errors, followed by an ace from Rose and a kill from Kujat, narrowed the deficit to two, 13-11. A service ace by Stotz would ignite a 6-1 scoring spurt to give SAU a 17-14 lead.
Goshen would fight off the surging Cougars, though, and regain the lead late, 24-23. Facing match point, the Cougars turned to Kujat, once again, and she would hammer home back-to-back kills before Rose finished off the Maple Leafs with a kill of her own to even the match at two sets apiece.
In the decisive fifth set, Spring Arbor fell behind 6-4 early, but would tally four straight points to jump in front. The two sides would continue to go back and forth, battling to 14-14, before consecutive kills by Rose ended the match.
Kujat's 26 kills matched her career-high. Rose followed with eight kills while sophomore Olivia Landis chipped in seven. In addition to her 26 assists, Stotz added three aces and 16 digs for her third double-double of the season. Junior Taylor Johnston also picked up double-digit digs with 13 and sophomore Courtney Kyser led all Cougars with five total blocks.
Spring Arbor (5-13, 1-7 CL) will begin a three-match road trip beginning with a visit to the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) (5-11, 2-6 CL) on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 5 p.m.
Volleyball Contact: Chris Bauman | 517-750-6504 | christopher.bauman@arbor.edu
SAU Athletics: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Volleyball: Twitter | Facebook
