BOSTON, Mass. -- In a repeat of last year's Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinal matchup, the Emerson College Lions (7-6, 3-0 GNAC) shut out the Simmons Sharks, 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-18) at the Holmes Sports Center Tuesday evening.

In the first game, the Sharks (7-10, 0-1 GNAC) took a 16-15 lead off a kill by senior Kelly Last (West Haven, Conn.), who led the Sharks with nine digs and four blocks on the evening. The Lions regained the lead 21-19 with kills by Juliana Tucker and Kat Westbrook but a blocking error and a kill by Sharks senior Rachel Dufault (Westport, Mass.) kept Simmons in the game.

Emerson took the lead again, 23-22 with a kill by Kat Rice but strong defense by Sharks Megan Chamberlin (Milford, Mass.) and Brittany Hill (Milford, Mass.) tied the score at 24. Chanel Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) led all Sharks with 17 digs but Emerson's Giuli Frendak added her first of four kills to lift the Lions to a 1-0 start.

After several lead changes in the second game, the Sharks took a 20-18 lead off a kill by Hill. Simmons increased their lead to three, 22-19 with a kill by Raeann Nesta (Niantic, Conn.) but the Lions defense was relentless, coming back to take the game 25-22.

The Lions jumped out to a large lead in the third 23-15, with kills by Westbrook and Tucker, and Alyssa Thorne served up two consecutive aces to solidify the win for the Lions.

The Sharks return to action on Thursday, September 27th in a non-conference matchup at Clark University at 7:00 p.m.