Simmons Volleyball hosted Lasell College and Saint Joseph College of Connecticut for a weekend tri-match on Saturday, October 24. The Sharks bested the Lasers, 3-1, and defeated the Blue Jays, 3-0, to improve their Great Northeast Athletic Conference record to 6-4, and their overall record to 12-14.

St. Joseph Conn. W, 3-0

In Game One, Simmons defeated SJC in three sets, 25-18, 25-16, 25-19, starting the weekend with a win. The win gave the Sharks an automatic bid into the GNAC tournament for the second consecutive year.

Sophomore Meaghan Flynn (Laguna Beach, Calif.) led the attack with 14 kills on 24 attempts with only 2 hitting errors. Freshman Kelly Last (West Haven, Conn.) and junior Taylor Pederson (San Antonio, Texas) were impressive in the middle with 18 combined kills on 29 attempts with one error. Last finished the game with six service aces, six solo blocks, and one block assist with only one error. Senior captain Amanda Weaver (Eaton, Ohio) had a solid performance, leading the offense with 26 assists. Senior Captain Jessica Hambleton (Methuen, Mass.) led the defense with 21 digs. Sophomore Krista Evans (Killen, Ala.) played a sharp match on the right side with 5 kills, one ace and two digs.

Lasell W, 3-1

In Game Two, Simmons earned a 3-1 victory over Lasell, coming back from a first set deficit to best the Lasers, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-20. The Sharks were forced to come from behind after dropping the first set of the match 25-19. Simmons regrouped and changed the tempo of the game to sweep the rest of the contest. Pederson and Last were unstoppable in the middle once again, with a combined 27 kills and 3 solo blocks each. Flynn and sophomore Kate Fionte (Andover, Mass.) led Simmons' outside, bombing the Lasers with 13 and 9 kills, respectively, with only 2 errors apiece. Weaver led the offense with 32 total assists, while Hambleton led the defensive raid with 29 digs. Evans was a force on the right side with 7 kills and only 2 errors on 18 total attempts.

The Sharks will travel across the river for a non-conference match against Lesley University on Wednesday, October 28 at 7:30pm, and will finish the regular season when they host GNAC rival Norwich on Saturday, October 31, senior day for Hambleton and Weaver. Simmons and Norwich will compete for the #6 and #7 seeds heading into the GNAC tournament.