Volleyball honors seniors, falls to nationally-ranked Wartburg

INDIANOLA, Iowa — The Simpson College volleyball team closed out the 2020-21 season Saturday afternoon with a three-set loss to No. 23 Wartburg College. The Knights used set scores of 25-14, 25-13 and 25-13 to improve to 4-2 (4-1 A-R-C) this season, while the Storm finished the season 2-6 overall and in conference action.

Prior to the match, the Storm honored their six seniors: Ariana Martinez, Blair Glendenning, Madison Fleer, Allyson Rose, Kamryn Juni, and Emmalyn Pratt.

The first set kicked off with the teams battling out to a 7-7 tie with Simpson collecting kills from five different attackers and an ace off the hands of Rachel Hardwick. Fleer's second kill of the night halted a 7-0 spurt by the visitors before two Knight errors and a Juni kill brought the score to 16-11 in favor of the visitors. A slew of Wartburg kills and aces helped the Knights maintain their lead and cruise to a set one victory.

After falling behind by a pair of points to start the second, Simpson bounced back with a 6-1 run to take an early 6-3 lead. Rose, Teria Campbell and Lexie Parks all got their hands on a kill during the span while Martinez picked up her fourth ace of the season.

The three-point advantage was short-lived for the Storm. Wartburg's offense began to heat up to the tune of a 16-2 run that put the set away for good. The momentum continued into the third set as the visitors distanced themselves early and never looked back for the 12-point set victory.

Zaiah Quick (12) and Kylie Bildstein (11) both hit double figures in the kills column to lead the Knights in the win, while Katie Foster (15) and Kennedy Meister (10) led the effort in the back row with double-digit digs. Claire Marsh dished out 23 assists.

Juni tallied six kills for the Storm while the trio of Fleer, Parks and Niya Harris each added four. Martinez finished the game with 16 digs followed by Marissa Salber who dug up eight balls to go with 12 assists.