Simmons Volleyball earned a 3-1 win over local non-conference program Newbury College on Wednesday night, playing their first game at home in four weeks. The Sharks relished their home court advantage, and with the victory improve to 8-10 overall, and remain at 2-1 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

The Sharks came out firing on all cylinders in game one, leading the Nighthawks for the entire match and making minimal mistakes for a 25-9 victory. A letdown in the Simmons offense and a change in momentum in game 2 evened the contest at 1-1.

Simmons bounced back in game three, letting their momentum dictate the pace of the game. The Sharks took a commanding 18-10 lead, but after several errors and a surge of life from Newbury saw Simmons' 9-point lead shrink to only three. The Sharks were able to hang on and capitalize on Newbury mistakes, eventually taking game three 25-19.

Game four began with the Sharks firing on all cylinders to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Victoria Moran came in to serve for the Sharks midway through the fourth game, adding 3 points to Simmons' 19-11 lead. Shamika Johnson played a stellar fourth game, providing a thunderous block to give the Sharks the 24-19 lead. Simmons began to panic when they saw their six-point lead narrowed down to one, with a 24-23 score. A time-out called for Simmons was all they needed to break Newbury's concentration to seal the 25-23 win.

Senior captain Amanda Weaver (Eaton, Ohio) and freshman Rachel Dufalt (Westport, Mass.) led the offense with 28 and 7 assists, respectively. Freshman Kelly Last (West Haven, Conn.) had four kills and sophomore Kate Fionte (Andover, Mass.) tallied another four to lead the Simmons attack. Junior Taylor Pederson (San Antonio, Texas) was again a threat in the middle with some of her toughest attacks this season. Sophomore Krista Evans (Killen, Ala.) had a very solid performance, with seven kills and four block assists.

"It was great to see the all-around effort from each player in tonight's match. We demonstrated how important it is to play to your full potential point for point," said Head Coach Jason Conetta. "Every game is a learning experience and last night showed the sharks have been learning from their mistakes, making us a stronger program game after game."

Simmons Volleyball will continue the season when they travel to Emerson College for a GNAC contest on Friday, October 9 at 4:00pm.