Storm overpower William Penn in sweep

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Jacqueline Luth enjoyed another big night and the Simpson volleyball team had its best offensive match of the season, beating William Penn 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-21) in front of the home crowd Thursday night.

Two nights after relinquishing leads in three sets of a conference-opening loss to Central, the Storm (5-5) played with a chip on their shoulders against William Penn. The offense rattled off 45 kills against just 14 errors for a season-best .272 attack percentage to snap a four-match losing streak.

Luth finished with 19 kills in 40 attempts, giving her 57 kills and 5.7 kills per set over the past three matches. Freshman Ty Duve made the most of her chances, getting eight kills while hitting .412. Hannah Lester added eight kills, Alyssa Mathews handed out 36 assists and Kayla Aronow led the back row with 11 digs.

Claire Simmons had 11 kills to lead the Statesmen (3-12), who lost their third in a row.

Trailing 15-14 in a crucial first set, Simpson found itself in a similar situation to two nights ago when the Storm squandered a six-point lead down the stretch. This time around Simpson mounted a 6-0 run capped off by a kill from Duve to give Simpson a 20-15 lead. Lester finished the set off with an emphatic kill.

Set two provided more drama. William Penn led 17-16 before a Luth kill sparked an 8-0 rally. Lester and Niki Dean teamed up for a block to make it 22-17 and Dean closed the run with a right-side kill. An error by the Statesmen put a close to the set.

William Penn threatened to take the match to a fourth set before Lester buried back-to-back kills to close out the sweep.

UP NEXT
The Storm enjoy an off weekend before returning to IIAC play at Buena Vista on Tuesday, Sept. 20. Picked third in the IIAC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Beavers (7-3) beat Martin Luther in four sets Wednesday.