Luth's 27 kills carry Simpson past Dubuque in five

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Jacqueline Luth had a career-high 27 kills and the Simpson volleyball team came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat Dubuque in five sets Friday night, 17-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 15-4.

In what has already been a breakout season for the junior outside hitter, Luth had the best night of her career as the Storm (8-8, 1-2 Iowa Conference) picked up their first conference win and snapped a five-match losing streak against Dubuque.

Luth was dominant, committing just six errors in 65 attempts for a .323 attack percentage. She got stronger as the match went on, recovering from a slow start -- three kills and three errors in the first set -- to hit .446 with 24 kills in the final four. She didn't commit an error in sets four and five, hitting .591 with 13 kills.

Luth's 27 kills are the most by a Simpson player since 2003 and tied for the 10th most in school history. 

The league leader in kills coming into the match, Karra Davis finished with 16 to lead the Spartans (10-9, 1-3), who hadn't lost to Simpson since 2010. 

Hannah Lester continued her solid play, finishing with 11 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Alyssa Mathews had 30 assists, Natalie Stadler had 17 and Kayla Aronow led the defensive charge with 28 digs.

Simpson trailed 21-19 in fourth set before rattling off five straight points, thanks in large part to tough serving from Aronow. After Dubuque pulled to within 24-23, Madison Hawtrey took advantage of a free ball, burying it home for her only kill of the contest.

The fifth set was all Simpson. The Storm raced out to an 11-2 lead and never looked back, hitting .727 as a team with nine kills and just one error.

UP NEXT
Simpson hosts Loras on Saturday for Alumni Day at Cowles Fieldhouse. The Duhawks (8-9, 0-3) lost to Central in five sets on Friday. Start time is set for 3 p.m.

SIMPSON RECOGNIZES ALUMNI, 2006 IIAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The volleyball program will recognize its alumni and celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the 2006 Iowa Conference Championship team. Alumni will mingle before the match and be recognized between sets two and three.