BALTIMORE, Md. - The Green Terror took the first set against the Gophers, but Goucher claimed the final three to win in four sets.
Junior
Nia Roberts got off to a hot start with a pair of kills as McDaniel (1-6) took a six point lead. Goucher (2-9) responded and closed the gap to four, but McDaniel used a balanced attack to stretch the lead up to eight. Leading Goucher 20-12, freshman
Mackenzie Mitchell recorded her second kill of the game followed by freshman
Jayda Patterson connecting on back-to-back kills and the Green Terror had a 23-14 lead.
Goucher scored one more, but junior
Lauren Guyer found an opening in the defense and tallied the final point for a 25-15 first set win.
The second set was back and forth the whole way with six lead changes. With McDaniel trailing by one early in the set, three different Green Terror tallied a kill to take a 10-7 lead. The Gophers responded with a run of their own to go up by two.
Nia Roberts rattled off two straight kills to tie the game up at 14. From that point on, Goucher took control and pulled away for the 25-21 win.
Goucher took an early six point lead in the third set. Led by
Jayda Patterson and fellow freshman
Mackenzie Mitchell McDaniel battled back, but could not close the gap as the Gophers won 25-14.
The fourth set went the distance and then some as both teams went on runs throughout. sophomore
Angalyn Strouse scored early for McDaniel and played excellent defense with a team high 25 digs on the night. Sophomore
Allyson Burgee built on the momentum with two kills of her own. The Gophers took a six point lead after that with three kills by Elizabeth Bobo.
With McDaniel trailing 11-6,
Mitchell and
Patterson helped bring the Green Terror back to 11-all. Goucher regained the lead, but
Strouse rattled off a trio of kills to tie the game up at 19. At 24-all, a Goucher error and
Patterson kill put McDaniel up by one. The Gophers regained control and pulled out the 28-26 win.
McDaniel returns to action at home on Wednesday against Mary Washington. The match begins at 7 P.M.