Simpson sweeps Central in regular season finale

PELLA, Iowa – The Simpson College volleyball team earned a 3-0 road victory over Central on Wednesday evening.

The Storm improved to 13-11 overall and 4-4 in the conference with the win, locking up the No. 6 seed in the American Rivers Conference Tournament beginning next week. Simpson will head to Storm Lake to face Buena Vista in the opening round on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

In the first set, Simpson was slow to find its groove but used a 7-1 run to claim its first lead at 7-6. Five unanswered points later in the set put the Storm ahead 20-13 and a kill from Elizabeth Conroy finished things off with the visitors claiming a 25-19 win.

The Storm scored seven of the first eight points in the second set and continued to dominate, claiming their first 10-point lead of the night at 19-9. The Dutch (8-15, 1-7 A-R-C) later fought off three set points before Josie O'Brien came off the bench and immediately knocked down a kill to put Simpson ahead 2-0.

The final set saw eight ties and four lead changes, but the Storm won the battle 25-21. Simpson trailed 14-8 before rattling off a 7-1 run capped off by a Marissa Salber ace. A block from Peyton Mitchell later tied the set at 20-20 and ignited a 5-0 spurt for the Storm. Mitchell and O'Brien sealed the win with a block.

Jessica Jacobs finished with 16 kills, Conroy had six in eight attempts, and Courtney Paxton chipped in five. Iman Ghalibaf (17) and Ragan Shelgren (10) led the team in digs.

Simpson hit .206 as a team while tallying 10 more kills than the Dutch. Central registered a .071 attacking percentage and was led by Rachel Pella and Gracie Pierson with seven kills apiece.

Up Next
Simpson heads to Storm Lake to face Buena Vista in the first round of the American Rivers Conference Tournament next Tuesday. The Storm defeated the Beavers 3-1 earlier this season.