Simmons Volleyball traveled to Dartmouth, Mass. on Friday and Saturday to compete in the UMass Dartmouth Invitational, and finished the weekend with a 3-1 record for the tournament, good for second place behind host UMass Dartmouth. Senior captain Amanda Weaver (Eaton, Ohio) received All-Tournament Team Honors.

The Sharks opened up tournament play with a 3-1 win over Regis College. The Sharks won game 1 with a commanding 25-4 score. The Pride retaliated in the second set, forcing a 1-1 tie (25-20). Simmons was able to regroup and finish Regis in 4 sets total, with the last two sets 25-17 and 25-14.

Simmons then lost their first match of the night to UMass Dartmouth in three games, 25-13, 25-20 and 25-15. UMD kept the Simmons offense at bay, unsettling the Sharks to numerous errors including 11 hitting errors in game 1. UMass, playing without error, controlled the momentum of the game from beginning to end.

On Saturday, Day Two of the Invitational, Simmons bounced back after the tough loss to UMass Dartmouth, and took a 3-1 victory over Framingham State College (25-14, 25-19, 19-25 and 25-16).

Simmons defeated Eastern Nazarene 3-1 in the final game of the tournament. Simmons began the match focused and ready to play on all cylinders as they won the first two sets in 25-16 and 25-13. After falling behind in the third set of the best of five set matchup, the Sharks responded by pulling off a 25-13 win in the fourth set.

"It was great to see all of the players contributing to the wins," said Head Coach Conetta. "This team took a lot of bumps and bruises the first few weeks, playing the most difficult schedule any Simmons Volleyball team has ever encountered. These student athletes have grown tremendously on and off the court as a team, and they will continue to blossom."

In addition to Weaver's All-Tournament honors, sophomore Kate Fionte (Andover, Mass.) was a force once again, playing well throughout the tournament. Fionte finished with 29 kills, 6 service aces and 31 digs. Freshmen Rachel Dufalt (Westport, Mass.) and Kelly Last (West Haven, Conn.) had a tremendous impact for the Sharks as well. Sophomore Meaghan Flynn (Laguna Beach, Calif.) recorded 52 digs, 44 kills, and 23 service aces on the day.

Simmons will travel to face off with conference foe Pine Manor on Tuesday, September 15 at 7:00pm in their Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener.