Storm fall victim to Buena Vista rally

STORM LAKE, Iowa — The Simpson College volleyball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Buena Vista on Wednesday night but was unable to stall the Beaver's comeback as the home team rallied to steal the five-set victory on their Senior Night.

The Storm (7-12, 4-4 A-R-C) finish the regular season conference slate tied for fourth with Dubuque and Central in league standings and have clinched a spot in the six-team American Rivers Conference Tournament for the first time since the 2013 season. Final seedings are yet to be determined.

In a first set that was tied on 17 occasions and saw 11 lead changes, the Beavers (10-10, 3-5 A-R-C) reached 25 points first but were unable to close the set out as the Storm kept the frame alive with a kill from Jessica Jacobs. The two teams then went blow for blow for the next 17 points before Taryn Bertini finally put down the set-winner to give the visitors a 35-33 victory.

Simpson extended its lead to 2-0 with a dominating performance on offense in the second set. The Storm hit .302 to tally 16 kills and added three aces on their way to a 25-12 win. Buena Vista would rally back to earn the five-set thriller with slim 25-23 and 26-24 wins in sets three and four and a 15-9 fifth-set victory.

Jacobs led all attackers with 28 kills, just one shy of matching her career-high set back on Oct. 9. Blayne Koster and Teria Campbell each recorded nine kills, and Marissa Salber added eight to go with 45 assists and 16 digs.

Along with Salber, Iman Ghalibaf (22), Bertini (14) and Rachel Hardwick (12) each tallied double-digit digs as the Storm posted a season-high 96 digs in the contest.

Up Next
Simpson closes out its regular season at the Augustana Pumpkin Bash on Oct. 29-30. The Storm will face Benedictine, Augustana, and Dominican while in Rock Island, Ill.