BOSTON, Mass. – The Simmons College volleyball team won the first set, but visting Massachusetts Institute of Technology cmae back to win the match, 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-14), this evening at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks fall to 4-7 on the season, while the Engineers, who received 54 votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, win their seventh straight match to improve to 12-1. 

MIT hit .216 for the match and dominated the net defensively with 10 total blocks. 

Sophomore middle hitter Allie Davanzo (Saint John's, Fla.) hit a torrid .600 for the match and added four block assists, two digs and a pair of aces for the Engineers, while sophomore outside hitter Lisette Tellez (Miami, Fla.) nearly posted a double-double with nine kills and a match-high 13 digs in addition to three block assists and two aces. First year setter Christina Liao (Warren, N.J.) recorded 25 assists in three sets, while picking up six digs and assisting on a block, while junior libero Tori Wuthrich (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) got down for 13 digs and served up an ace for MIT. 

Junior outside hitter Cailin Fredrickson (Columbia, Md.) led the Simmons offense with 10 kills in addition to scooping up five digs and serving an ace, while junior middle hitter Abby Hart (Westfield, Mass.) hit a tidy .455 to fuel six kills. She also fired a pair of aces and got up for a block assist. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Woodward (Deerfield, Mass.) spiked for five kills, picked up 13 digs and served for an ace for the Sharks and junior setter Andalyn Duke (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) set for 24 aces, got down for seven digs and made a block assist. 

Simmons won the first set 25-19 and began the frame by winning six of the first seven points. The Sharks maintained a 9-4 lead, before winning three straight points, including an ace and a kill from Fredrickson to give the home team a 12-4 advantage. Simmons later held a 15-8 lead, but the Engineers won four of the next five points to cut the deficit to 17-13. MIT stayed within 20-16, but the Sharks closed out the set to go up, 1-0, in the match. 

The Engineers put the set behind them and never trailed for the rest of the night, while winning the next three frames to take the match. MIT raced out to a 12-3 cushion behind a pair of aces from Davanzo. The Engineers later owned an 18-10 lead, but Simmons went on a 5-1 run to close to within 19-15. It was as close as it would get as MIT came away with the set, 25-17. 

The Engineers took an early 10-5 lead in the third set, before the Sharks ripped off three straight points, including an ace from Hart to close to within 10-8. The teams stayed within four points of each other and Simmons was within 15-13, before MIT pulled away with a 10-2 burst, paced by a pair of aces from Tellez and two of first year middle hitter Carly Staub's (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) match-high five block assists, to give the visitors a 25-15 set win. 

The teams played within four points of each other midway through the fourth frame until the Sharks pulled to within 10-9. The Engineers got some breathing room, reeling off five unanswered points on first year outside hitter Abby Bertics' (La Jolla, Calif.) service to take a 15-9 lead. Duke later put down a kill for Simmons to cut the margin to 15-11, but MIT finished the set with a 10-3 run to win the match, led by five kills from Davanzo. 

The Sharks return to the court on Tuesday, September 29 when they host Great Northeast Athletic Conference foe Johnson & Wales University at 7:00 p.m., while the Engineers host Smith College and Regis College in tri-match action beginning at 12:00 p.m. on September 26.