Volleyball receives road loss at Loras

DUBUQUE, Iowa -- The Simpson volleyball team looked poised for the upset Friday night at Loras by holding leads in all three sets, but could not hold on and lost 3-0 on the road.

The Storm (8-14, 0-6 A-R-C) pushed the opening set to 27-25 looking for their first American Rivers Conference win of the season against the second-place Duhawks (18-7, 5-1 A-R-C). Loras would go on to claim the two remaining sets by scores of 25-17, 25-19 for the sweep.

Simpson started the match with a 5-1 surge for the early advantage and kept the lead to 17-14, before the Duhawks went on a 6-3 run to bring the set to a draw at 20-20. Both teams held tight through the next 10 points of game action and sat at 25-25, but the hosts scored the final two points to take the set.

The Storm would claim a quick 3-1 lead in the second set, but went cold as Loras went out in front at 8-3 and never looked back. Simpson would hit .219 during the set for its best percentage of the match, but would score its fewest points in doing so. Loras tallied 10 kills during the second set victory.

In the final set, the Storm owned a 19-18 lead, but the Duhawks heated up and rattled off the next seven points to seal the sweep. Simpson hit .088 during the set and Loras piled on 12 kills by hitting .258.

Alyssa Mathews got the offense going by dishing out 29 assists and is now four away from reaching the 3,000 mark for her career. Niya Harris and Hannah Lester each had eight kills as Harris clubbed a .500 attack percentage.

On the defensive side, Ariana Martinez produced 11 digs and Emmalyn Pratt had 10.

Up Next
Simpson returns to action tomorrow with an A-R-C match at Dubuque. The contest will begin at 1 p.m.