Errors, inconsistency cost Storm in loss to Luther

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson volleyball team accumulated 24 more kills than Luther but committed a season-high 32 errors in a 3-1 (25-13, 14-25, 25-21, 25-18) loss Wednesday night at Cowles Fieldhouse.

The Storm (3-11, 1-1 Iowa Conference) suffered from inconsistent play and unforced errors, offsetting what was an otherwise dominating offensive performance.

"Our serve receive killed us and our serving killed us," head coach Lana Smith said. "We led them in kills and hitting efficiency, we just had too many unforced errors and couldn't pass effectively."

Simpson had 53 kills on the night to 29 for Luther. The Storm also held a .168-.144 advantage in attack percentage.

The Norse (8-6, 1-1) showed early an often why they are the conference's top blocking team, tallying five in the first set en-route to 8.5 for the game. Sophie Brown finished with one solo block and four assists and Lindsey Ryan had two solos and three assists to lead the defensive effort at the net.

Natalee Johnson led the team with eight kills.

"Our inexperience is hurting us and causing inconsistency offensively," Smith said. "We pass and serve every day and work a lot of pressure drills, which we will have to continue. We need to stay focused on taking care of the little things."

The bright spots for Simpson were the play of Steph Keller and Morgan Terpstra. Keller had a season-high 19 kills and Terpstra tied a career-high with nine kills, hit a career-best .467 and led the team with four block assists.

"Steph had a great match," Smith said. "We've waited for her to turn it on and she did that tonight. Morgan really dominated the net play."

Katie Kieffer provided a steady presence, finishing with 36 assists. Kim Rogers had 17 digs.

The turning point in the match came in the third set. After splitting lop-sided results to start the night, the teams went back and forth for a majority of the third. Down 19-17, Simpson got kills from Keller and Terpstra to tie it at 19.

But Luther scored the next three points and closed with a 6-2 run to take control of the match.

The Norse put the fourth set out of reach early, rattling off 11-straight points after Simpson held a short-lived 1-0 lead.

Simpson will enjoy a weekend off, allowing extra time to prepare for a clash with No. 17 Wartburg on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at Cowles Fieldhouse. The Knights (13-1, 2-0) beat Loras in straight sets Wednesday.

Start time is set for 7:30 p.m.