Storm split final day of Ripon Quadrangular

RIPON, Wis. — The Simpson volleyball team finished the Ripon Quadrangular with a four-set win over the host Ripon Red Hawks and heartbreaking five-set loss to UW-River Falls.

The Storm (6-6) lost both of their first sets in each match before making a complete comeback against the Ripon Red Hawks (5-11) and falling short in their comeback to UW-River Falls (13-5).

Jacque Luth finished the day with a team-high 32 kills while Hannah Lester pitched in 20 and Morgan Taylor added 16. Luth also finished with 30 digs to lead the Storm while Alyssa Mathews posted 77 assists.

Set Scores
UW-River Falls — 25-22, 16-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-8
Ripon — 20-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-16

Stat Leaders
Jacque Luth -- 32 kills, 30 digs, 4 aces
Hannah Lester -- 20 kills, 12 blocks
Morgan Taylor -- 16 kills, 20 digs, 4 aces
Alyssa Mathews -- 77 assists, 15 digs
Chelsey Smith -- 29 digs

UW-River Falls Match
The Storm came out strong and hit their match-high 13 kills and .256 percentage in the first set despite the 25-22 loss. Simpson stayed with the Falcons edging a win in set 2 and 4, but couldn't put together enough offense in the 5th set with only 4 kills to come out with the win. Luth led the way with 16 kills and 14 digs while Lester had six blocks.

Ripon Match
Simpson trailed 24-15 in set 1 but put up a good fight with three kills by Mathews, a Lester kill, Lester/Hoefling block and Red Hawk error to bring the score to 24-20 before Emily Allard put the final touches on the Ripon set 1 win. The Storm held on to win sets 2, 3, and 4. Luth (16) and Taylor (10) both finished with double figure kills while Smith (17), Luth (16), Mathews (10) and Hoefling (11) finished with double figure digs. Mathews had 40 assists.

Notables
• With her 32 kills Saturday, Luth increases her career total to 966 as she looks to become the 16th player in school history to reach the 1,000-kill milestone.
• Nearing the halfway point of the season, Simpson is 2-3 in five-set matches. The Storm played in just one in all of 2016, a 3-2 win against Dubuque on Sept. 30.

Up Next
The Storm women continue Iowa Conference place as they travel to Dubuque on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. match.