Gophers Win First Conference Victory of the Season

Gophers Win First Conference Victory of the Season
October 18, 2025
Video Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Goucher Gophers (7-15 overall; 1-6 conference) won their first conference game of the season against the Rangers of Drew University (5-17 overall; 1-4 conference). This victory also marked head coach Kate Lindholm's first career conference win at Goucher. On Senior Day, number four Lucille Hendricks and number 11 Liv DeBiasio were honored. In a tight match-up that went into five sets, Drew fought back. Ultimately, Goucher pushed ahead and snatched the win in the fifth set. Building on this hard-fought victory, the opening set set the tone for the game's intensity. 

Drew takes two points early before a kill from Kelsi Hockaday stops their momentum. Goucher gains a few points off the Rangers' errors before kills from AaShyah De Vries and Hockaday add to the Gopher scoreboard. Hendricks has two kills, bringing the Gophers to only two points behind Drew, 14-12. Goucher goes on a four-point scoring run with massive swings that put them in the lead. Kills from Kanay Parham, Alex Dzhygit, DeBiasio, and Hockaday put the Gophers in the lead 19-17. After this run, Drew takes a timeout to quell the Gophers' momentum. Coming out of the timeout, Goucher scores off kills from Hendricks and Hockaday, leading to Goucher taking the first set 25-20. 
 
Hendricks and Hockaday have early swings that lead to a 5-2 early Goucher lead. Drew fights back, tying the set 5-5. Drew tries to inch ahead before a kill from setter Alex Jordan stops them. Both teams go back and forth before DeBiasio has a kill assisted by libero Athena Savick. Drew pushes ahead, taking a 17-12 lead, but De Vries and Hendricks fight back with successful spikes. Gophers add late points from DeBiasio and Hockaday to lessen the deficit, but ultimately Drew takes the set 25-20. 
 
Both teams score, resulting in an early 2-2 tie. Both teams go back and forth, gaining points off each other's errors. Setter Sofia Ortiz goes in for the kill, assisted by Hendricks, tying the score 5-5. The Rangers go on a five-point scoring run, strengthening their lead 10-5. DeBiasio and Hendricks fight back for Goucher, helping the Gophers gain traction. Parham and Dzhygit help the Gophers with successful kills. Savick and DeBiasio add to the Gopher tally, pushing them to only two points behind the Rangers, 21-19. Drew maintains their lead, taking the set 25-20. 
 
Drew takes an early 5-2 lead before three Gopher attacks from Hendricks, Hockaday, and De Vries. Coming into the game, Lucy Ingraham scores an ace for the Gophers. Another ace for Goucher from Ortiz and a kill from Dzhygit helps tie the score 10-10. Both teams battle to gain points off the other's errors before two consecutive kills from Dzhygit help lead to the Gophers taking the lead. A kill from DeBiasio takes Goucher to 21-18. The end of the set stays competitive with kills from De Vries and Parham. Hendricks' swing puts the Gophers at 26-25. An error from the Rangers helps the Gophers push the game to five sets, 27-25. 
 
Goucher scores first in the fifth set with a kill by Jordan, assisted by Hockaday. Drew takes an early swing before the Gophers gain three consecutive points from Hendricks' spikes. The score gets tight with Goucher ahead by one, 6-5. Goucher begins to cement their lead with a kill from Ortiz, two service aces from Savick, and a kill from Hockaday, 11-5. The Rangers have a surge, pushing to only three points behind 9-12. Another kill by Hockaday and a few errors from Drew led to Goucher taking the set 15-10. 
 
Hendricks was the leader in kills with 13, followed closely by DeBiasio with 11. Ortiz was the assist leader with 18, followed by Jordan with 16. Parham had four solo blocks, and Savick was the service ace leader with three. Savick had 24 of the team's 89 digs. 
 
The Gophers return to action on October 22nd at 6pm. They will be traveling to Trinity Washington in Washington, D.C.