Storm drop two on last day in River Falls

RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- The Simpson volleyball team lost a pair of four-set matches to Minnesota Conference foes to close play at the Wis.-River Falls Invitational on Saturday. The Storm lost to St. Catherine and St. Thomas.

The Storm close the weekend going 1-3 and are now 5-9 overall. American Rivers Conference play resumes Tuesday, Sept. 18 when Simpson travels to Luther. Start time is set for 7:30 p.m.

St. Catherine 3, Simpson 1
Set Scores: 25-19, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17

Morgan Taylor and Hannah Lester finished with 10 kills apiece to lead the Storm. Taylor hit .320 to go along with eight digs. Alyssa Mathews handed out 38 assists and Ariana Martinez finished with 13 digs. Madison Hawtrey had nine kills and Megan LeMay eight for the Storm.

St. Thomas 3, Simpson 1
26-24, 21-25, 25-12, 25-12

Taylor posted double-figure kills for the second time Saturday, leading the way with 11 while hitting .176 with nine digs. Hannah Lester added eight and three blocks, hitting a team-best .278. Mathews had 34 assists and Martinez led the way with 17 digs.

Simpson hung with the Tommies for the first two sets, hitting .197 while earning a 25-21 win in second set. But the Storm faltered in the sets three and four, hitting just .070.