Volleyball wins two in weekend opener

GRINNELL, Iowa -- In the first day of the Central/Grinnell Invitational, the Simpson volleyball team tallied two wins to start the weekend in Grinnell on Friday.

The Storm (6-5) started the day with a 3-2 win over Concordia-Chicago and followed that up with a three-set sweep of Alverno.

Hannah Lester finished with 21 kills and seven blocks between the two matches, while Alyssa Mathews dished out 48 assists.

Simpson 3, Concordia-Chicago 2
Set Scores: 26-24, 23-25, 11-25, 25-17, 21-19

In the opener, Simpson escaped set one with a 26-24 win over the Cougars. Both teams struggled to find their offense in the game as the Storm hit .026, while Concordia-Chicago dialed a -.024.

Over the next two sets, the Cougars surged to a 2-1 lead after cruising to a demanding 25-11 victory in the third set. Concordia-Chicago held Simpson to a -.080 hitting percentage, while the team had its best of the day at .333.

The Storm charged back in the fourth set with a 25-17 tally to force a fifth set. Both teams played each other well in the final frame and went beyond game point, but Simpson would hold on to win 21-19.

There were 25 ties during the game and 14 lead changes, with 10 coming in the opening set.

Simpson 3, Alverno 0
Set Scores: 25-20, 25-14, 25-10

The Storm tallied its second sweep of the season tonight and only allowed Alverno to score 44 points among the three sets. The Inferno only had 11 kills throughout the match.

In the first set, Simpson had its lowest hitting percentage at .088 with 11 kills, while Alverno had three kills for a -.074 hitting clip. The Storm followed that up with 10 kills to win 25-14 and then ended the game with a 25-10 victory.

Simpson had the advantage all match and there were only two lead changes throughout the whole contest.

Up Next
Simpson returns to the hardwood tomorrow for a 11 a.m. match against Wisconsin-River Falls to close out the Central/Grinnell Invite.