Simpson triumphs in championship re-match

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Facing the team that provided the lone setbacks in Simpson's 2008 Iowa Conference campaign, Simpson recovered from a first set loss to defeat defending-conference champion Loras, 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19).

Lara Gillespie (Sr., Lake Park, Iowa) led the way with a match-high .407 hitting percentage off 15 kills, followed by Whitney Oviatt (Sr., Carnation, Wasn.) and Amy Schuster (Jr., Indianola, Iowa), who each added 12 kills.

Despite defeating the team picked second in the Iowa Conference Preseason Coaches' poll – behind Simpson – and head coach Lana Smith felt the Storm never really settled into a rhythm.

"I didn't feel like we had a good tempo," Smith said. "We looked a little ragged and we didn't pass all that well, but we played well enough to win, which was our goal coming into the match."

The Storm (3-3, 2-0 IIAC) fell behind early in the first two sets, trailing by as many as nine in each match before coming back to end Loras' 10-match regular season conference winning streak dating back to 2007. The last time the two teams met, Loras defeated Simpson in the 2008 Iowa Conference Tournament title match.

Julianne Lord paced the Duhawks (4-6, 1-1 IIAC) with 15 kills and a .265 hitting percentage, while Brittney Westermeyer had seven kills to go along with four blocks.

Tara Christensen (Sr., Hinton, Iowa) distributed 30 assists and Brittany Friesth (Sr., Adel, Iowa) charted 15 digs. In addition to her 12 kills, Oviatt placed three service aces and tallied four of the team's seven blocks.

Simpson returns home this weekend when it hosts the 2009 Simpson Volleyball Invitational beginning Friday afternoon.