Simpson falls twice on Friday evening

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Simpson College volleyball came up empty in its first two matches of the UW-La Crosse Invitational on Friday, dropping a 3-0 decision to UW-River Falls before wrapping the night with a 3-1 loss to UW-La Crosse.

The Falcons (9-2, 0-1 WIAC) claimed a 2-0 lead over the Storm (4-7, 0-1 A-R-C) thanks to back-to-back 25-14 wins in sets one and two. UW-River Falls led 14-7 in the third before a kill by Camryn McKay ignited an 8-1 Simpson rally that tied the game at 15-15.

The Storm fell behind 24-22 shortly after but managed to flip the script with a Falcon error, McKay kill and Marissa Salber to lead 25-24. After trading a point each, UW-River Falls completed the sweep.

Simpson's first set with the Eagles (3-6, 1-0 WIAC) also ended 28-26 and was equally heartbreaking for the Storm. UW-La Crosse captured set point at 24-21 before Simpson scored the next four points to earn set point themselves. The game sat locked at 25 and 26 before the Eagles finished it off with a kill and an ace.

In the second set, UW-La Crosse raced out to a 9-1 lead and cruised to a 25-17 win to go up 2-0 in the match. A 5-0 run late in the third gave Simpson its first set win of the evening, 25-21, but the Storm couldn't maintain the momentum as the Eagles took set four by a score of 25-12.

Jessica Jacobs recorded 22 kills, Salber tallied 49 assists and Iman Ghalibaf had 20 digs. Autumn Finch had seven kills and was a defensive force at the net with eight total blocks.

Up Next
Simpson continues action in La Crosse with a pair of games on Saturday. The Storm are set to face Bethany Lutheran at 11 a.m. and Ripon at 3 p.m.