Simpson comes up short on final day of Wartburg Classic

WAVERLY, Iowa – The Simpson volleyball team dropped its last two games at the Wartburg Knights Classic on Saturday, falling to St. Olaf and No. 7 St. Thomas to close the tournament 2-2.

The Storm (7-16) got out to a two-set lead against St. Olaf before losing 9-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-7. Simpson had a near-perfect second-set against seventh-ranked St. Thomas, but lost 25-20, 17-25, 25-20, 25-15.

"We started out strong this morning with two wins over St. Olaf," head coach Lana Smith said. "Our serving and passing got inconsistent as we lost a disappointing first match."

Smith was pleased with the team's play against the powerhouse Tommies and was encouraged by the weekend as a whole.

"We rallied back strong against St. Thomas and played particularly well in the second set. I was proud of the team's play," Smith said. "Overall we had a good weekend with much more consistent play and a balanced attack."

Steph Keller led the team with 16 kills against St. Olaf, hitting a team-best .261. MacKenzie McGraw added 12 kills and four blocks and Tabitha Blaser continued her her solid weekend with 11 kills.

Katie Kieffer passed out 42 assists and Kim Rogers led the defense with 25 digs.

One of the most encouraging moments of the weekend came in the second set against St. Thomas. In that set, Simpson handled one of the top teams in the nation by pounding 15 kills in 29 attempts with no errors.

McKaylie Croghan led Simpson with 17 kills and three blocks, hitting .500. Kieffer led the way with 39 assists and Rogers had 19 digs.

Simpson hosts Loras in an Iowa Conference match on Wednesday, Oct. 10. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.