The Simmons College Sharks concluded their regular season on Saturday with an exciting 3-2 victory over Great Northeast Athletic Conference opponent Norwich University. Simmons' victory (25-20, 18-25, 25-22, 11-25, 15-10) secured the sixth seed for the Sharks in the postseason conference Tournament, which opens on Tuesday, November 3, when #6 Simmons travels to #3, rival Emmanuel College for a 7pm quarterfinal game.

Game One swung back and forth, as both teams sized each other up. Simmons and Norwich exchanged points all the way up to point 16. Luckily for the Sharks, sophomore Kate Fionte (Andover, Mass.) delivered consistent and confident serves, giving Simmons a 19-16 lead. Simmons never looked back, finishing the first set 25-20.

Game Two was the mirror image of the first set, with the Cadets taking the 25-18 win. Game Three swung the day back in the Sharks' favor, 2-1, after some scrappy defense gave them the lead. Senior Jessica Hambleton (Methuen, Mass.) and sophomore Meaghan Flynn (Laguna, beach, Calif.) made several flying digs and hit the floor, point after point, to secure Game Three, 25-22.

Norwich dominated Game Four from beginning to end as the Cadets began with an 11-3 run and never looked back, closing out the set 25-11. In Game Five, Fionte gave the Sharks a 4-0 lead with more commanding serving. Norwich was able to bring the score back to 4-3. Simmons and Norwich battled back and forth until the scoreboard read 7-6, when Simmons called a time-out. Simmons returned from the break with enough momentum to shift the game to an 8-6 lead heading into the side change. From then on, Simmons continued their strong defense with some smart kills from Amanda Weaver (Eaton, Ohio) in the front row.

The Cadets (17-11, 6-6 GNAC) were led by junior Molly Rice, who posted a double-double with 28 assists and 10 digs. Senior Lisset Magdaleno chipped in 10 kills, while sophomore April Byllaardt added six kills and four blocks. Sophomore Brittany Palmer recorded seven service aces and nine digs.

The win gives Simmons their best post-season seeding since 1999, and ties the program's regular season 13-win mark, set in 2008. The Sharks also tied the program's conference 7-win mark, from the 1998 and 1999 seasons.