BOSTON, Mass. - The Simmons College volleyball team was defeated by visiting Babson College, 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-14), tonight at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks fall to 0-5 on the season, while the Beavers improve to 5-4.
Senior defensive specialist Brianna San Diego's (Daly City, Calif.) first dig of the opening set was the 1,000th of her career at Babson.
BC won the first set, 25-19, and trailed the second frame, 12-4, before ripping off seven straight points behind the service of senior libero Kseniya Pulido (Upland, Calif.), to pull within 12-11. Simmons scored the next two points to take a 14-11 margin, but the Beavers went on an 8-2 run to take a 19-16 lead, en-route to the second set win. Babson cruised to the match victory with a 25-14 third set win.
First year middle blocker Emmee Ashby (Payson, Ariz.) led the Sharks with 10 kills and a .273 hitting percentage to go with a dig and a block assist, while junior outside hitter Nicole Alberghini (Northborough, Mass.) put away five kills. Sophomore setter Andalyn Duke (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) registered a match-high 22 assists and added a team-high nine digs. Sophomore libero Alex Itasaka (Bradford, Mass.) also contributed on the defensive end for Simmons with eight digs.
Junior outside hitter Lorraine Donahue (Braintree, Mass.) spiked for 10 kills and owned a .500 hitting percentage to lead Babson also added a pair of digs to her night for the visitors, while sophomore right side hitter Lorraine Mackiewicz (Edison, N.J.) swung for a .500 hitting mark with seven kills in addition to three digs, three block assists and an ace. Junior setter Krissy Robertson (Dedham, Mass.) directed the offense with a team-high 20 assists for the Beavers and added four digs and two total blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Jenny Karnes (Houston, Texas) contributed on both sides of the net with seven kills, five total blocks and a dig, while Pulido got down for a match-high 15 digs.
The Sharks will be in action again on Saturday, September 13 when they open the Great Northeast Athletic Conference slate in West Hartford, Conn. against University of Saint Joseph at 1:00 p.m., while Babson heads to Medford, Mass. to take on Tufts University on September 12 at 4:00 p.m.