Simpson defeats Central, remains unbeaten in A-R-C play

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Simpson College volleyball improved to 3-0 in American Rivers Conference play for the first time since 2009 with a 3-1 (27-25, 16-25, 25-22. 25-23) triumph against Central on Wednesday.

The Storm (5-6, 3-0 A-R-C) snapped a four-game winning streak for the Dutch (9-7, 1-1 A-R-C) and halted a two-match losing skid in the series.

The visitors jumped out to a six-point advantage in the opening set before Simpson rallied to knot the frame at 14-14. Later on in the first, junior Jessica Jacobs clubbed back-to-back kills to hand the Storm an opening-set victory behind six kills during the frame.

Central evened the match at 1-1 after hitting .227 as a unit with nine kills. The Dutch forced 10 errors by Simpson and also recorded four blocks.

The tide changed back to the Storm in set three as the squad grabbed a 9-4 tilt on a freshman Courtney Paxton kill. Central executed a 7-0 spurt to go up 11-9 and held the advantage before Simpson fought back to place it at 19-19. Back-to-back aces from Jacobs propelled the Storm out in front the rest of the way to win 25-22.

The Dutch aimed to push the match into a fifth set by garnering a 10-6 lead in the fourth to force head coach Kekailoa Palea to call a timeout. After the break, Simpson erased the deficit to only sit down by one at 11-10. After six ties during the frame, the Storm finally clinched the match on a kill by Paxton.

Jacobs ended with 19 kills and two aces to lead the offense, while junior Marissa Salber had a double-double with 38 assists and 20 digs. Sophomore Iman Ghalibaf closed with 18 digs and freshman Blayne Koster registered 17 digs and five kills.

Up Next
A-R-C play continues next Friday, Oct. 8 inside Cowles Fieldhouse. The Storm host Dubuque for a 7:30 p.m. match and follow up with a 1 p.m. game against Loras on Saturday, Oct. 9 to close out regular season play on their home court.