Storm win Simpson Triangular

INDIANOLA - Megan Dunlavy hit .455 with 37 kills in two matches as Simpson beat Buena Vista and Grinnell on the way to a first place finish at the Simpson Triangular on Saturday.

The Storm (16-16), closed out the regular season by winning a five-set thriller against Buena Vista in the day's first match (25-16, 23-25, 22-25, 32-30, 15-12), before beating Grinnell 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-13).

Dunlavy put together a nearly flawless performance, committing only two errors in 77 attempts on the afternoon. She hit .420 with 23 kills in a 3-2 win against Buena Vista and buried 14 kills with no errors in 27 attempts for a .519 hitting percentage against Grinnell. Simpson hit .282 as a team.

Steph Keller had 22 kills on the day and McKaylie Croghan added 21 with four blocks. Ashley Padget distributed 91 assists, including 67 against Buena Vista.

Simpson now awaits its Iowa Conference Tournament fate. Assured a spot in the six-team tournament, the Storm are currently fourth in the conference. A Cornell loss against Loras would give Simpson the No. 3 seed. Loras owns the No. 1 seed and will host the tournament, which takes place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5-6 in Dubuque.