Taylor leads Storm to split at Saint Benedict

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- Morgan Taylor tallied a team-high 20 kills as the Simpson volleyball team beat Concordia-Moorhead in four sets in the first match of the Saint Benedict Tournament on Friday. Simpson closed the day with a three-set lost to the host Blazers.

With the split, the Storm move to 3-4 on the season. Simpson closes the weekend Saturday against Valley City State and St. Scholastica.

Simpson 3, Concordia-Moorhead 2
Set Scores: 25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23

Taylor finished with 20 kills, three service aces and a .300 hitting percentage to lead the Storm to their third-straight win. Megan LeMay added 14 kills and a .312 hitting percentage while Hannah Lester contributed 12 kills and four block assists.

Simpson nearly surrendered a five-point lead while sitting on set point in the first before Lester hammered the game-winner. The Storm controlled the second set and got back-to-back kills from Madison Hawtrey and Lexie Parks to close the deciding fourth set.

Saint Benedict 3, Simpson 0
Set Scores: 25-11, 25-14, 25-13

Parks finished with a team-high nine kills but the Storm didn't have an answer for the potent Blazer attack. Lester had seven kills and hit .455, but Simpson hit just -.019 as a team. Madison Weiss had 10 kills to lead Saint Benedict, who hit .348 as a team.