Volleyball opens season 2-2, Kieffer earns all-tournament honors

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Behind solid play from a group of veterans and an all-tournament performance by setter Katie Kieffer, the Simpson volleyball team started the season 2-2 at the Colorado College Invitational over the weekend.

Simpson split play on Friday and Saturday, beating Oswego State 3-1 on Friday (12-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-13) and Blackburn 3-0 on Saturday (25-13, 25-12, 25-13). Simpson lost to Minnesota Morris 3-1 (25-19,18-25, 25-15, 25-22) and host Colorado College 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-20).

Simpson took third in the six-team tournament.

As a team, Simpson hit an impressive .200 over the weekend, led by Tabitha Blaser's .259 hitting percentage. Blaser also led the team with 39 kills, followed by MacKenzie McGraw's 35. Transfer Olivia Sulentic added 31 kills.

Kieffer earned all-tournament accolades, tallying 149 assists over the weekend. Her 10.64 assists per set are more than two assists over her career average.

Oswego State – Blaser and McGraw combined for 32 kills as Simpson hit a scorching .262 as a team. Blaser had 17 kills and hit .318 and McGraw had 15 kills with a .400 hitting percentage. Kieffer had 45 assists and three of the team's nine service aces.

Minnesota Morris – Sulentic had 12 kills and 14 digs and McGraw added 10 kills to lead the Storm in the 3-1 loss. Kieffer added 41 assists and Kayla Aronow had 22 digs.

Blackburn – Torey Buenger paced the team with 11 kills and hit .429 as Simpson rolled in three sets. Kieffer had 35 assists and Aronow had 11 digs.

Colorado College – Blaser led the team with 11 kills in the loss. The Tigers – ranked eighth in the AVCA Preseason Poll – had three players with 10 kills or more.