BOSTON, Mass. – Junior outside hitter Cailin Fredrickson (Columbia, Md.) spiked for a match-high 12 kills and junior setter Andalyn Duke (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) set for 30 assists and fired four aces to lead the Simmons College women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-21) victory over visiting Albertus Magnus College this afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match at Moore Gymnasium. The Sharks have won four of their last five matches and improve to 8-9 overall and 5-2 in league play, while the Falcons fall to 2-12 and 0-5. 

Fredrickson also added four aces, seven digs and a block solo to her day, while hitting .214 for Simmons. Duke came up with three digs as well. Junior middle hitter Abby Hart (Westfield, Mass.) made the most of her swings, putting down eight kills, while committing just one error and registering a .438 hitting percentage. She also picked up three digs and served up an ace. Junior libero Kat Guillotte (New Bedford, Mass.) got down for a match-high 12 digs to go with an ace for the home team. 

First year middle hitter Megan Gritz (Milford, Conn.) led Albertus Magnus with six kills in addition to six digs and an ace, while junior outside hitter Amber Cohens (Hamden, Conn.) chipped in with four kills, two aces and four digs. Sophomore middle hitter Ana Gomez (New Haven, Conn.) anchored the defense with a team-high 11 digs. 

Simmons jumped out to an early 5-1 margin in the first set, led by a pair of kills from Hart, but Albertus Magnus answered with four straight points to knot the set at 5-5. The Sharks led by no more than five points, before owning an 18-16 lead later in the frame. Simmons closed out the set by winning seven of the final nine points to take the frame, 25-18. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Woodward (Deerfield, Mass.) fueled the late burst for the Sharks with two kills and a pair of aces. 

Simmons dominated the second set from the service line with 11 of its 25 points coming off aces, including four from Duke and three from Woodward. The Sharks scored seven of the first eight points of the set, including a pair of aces from Fredrickson. The Falcons closed to within five points at 9-4, but Simmons put together a 9-3 run, paced by three of Woodward's match-high six aces, to take an 18-7 advantage. The Sharks tallied the final six points of the set during Duke's service, while getting three aces from the setter, as they closed out the frame with a 25-10 win. 

The final set saw the teams tied 14 times during the frame. Albertus Magnus took its largest lead of the afternoon at 5-2 and the teams stayed within three points of each other for most of the remainder of the set. Simmons later owned a 21-20 edge, before scoring four of the final five points, including a kill from Fredrickson to give the Sharks the set and match at 25-21. 

Simmons returns to action on Tuesday, October 13 when it travels to New London, Conn. to take on Connecticut College at 7:00 p.m., while the Falcons head to Purchase, N.Y. on October 14 for a 7:00 p.m. match with State University of New York Purchase College.