BOSTON, Mass. – Senior outside hitter Cailin Fredrickson (Columbia, Md.) spiked for a match-high 14 kills to lead the Simmons College women's volleyball team in a 3-1 loss to visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology this evening at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks fall to 1-3 on the season, while the the Leopards win their fifth straight match to begin the season and remain a perfect 5-0.
Simmons won the opening set, 25-21, before Wentworth came back to win the final three frames, 25-18, 25-22, 25-20.
First year outside hitter Claire Quick (Mission Viejo, Calif.) led the Leopards with her third double-double of the year on 12 kills and 15 digs and also hit a match-best .379 to go with a pair of aces, while first year outside hitter Leah Rogoz (Woodridge, Ill.) put down seven kills, picked up 13 digs and served up three aces. First year setter Katie Clouse (Hudson Falls, N.Y.) recorded a team-high 17 assists and added eight digs and a pair of aces. Wentworth finished the evening with 10 kills as a team.
Fredrickson also hit .333 for the night to go with four digs and an ace, while first year outside hitter Morgan Weeg (Goodyear, Ariz.) swung for nine kills to go with 14 digs and a block assist. First year setter Kenna McCarthy (Shelter Island, N.Y.) doled out 29 assists to lead all players, got down for five digs and got up for a block assist.
Simmons won six of the first seven points to open the match, before the Wentworth countered with a 5-2 run to close to within 9-7. The home team built a seven-point advantage on a 6-1 burst, behind four kills from Fredrickson, taking a 15-8 lead. The Sharks later maintained a 20-14 margin, but the visitors chipped away and pulled to within 24-21 on a kill from junior rightside hitter Caroline Shea (Abington, Mass.) Weeg put the set away with a kill to give the hosts a 25-21 first set victory.
The Leopards leapt out to a 12-4 lead in the second set, behind two kills and an ace from Quick, who made just one attack error for the night. Wentworth took its largest lead of the set at 18-8, before Simmons climbed back to within five points on a 7-2 run at 20-15. The Sharks would get no closer than 22-18, before the Leopards tallied the final three points to close out the frame and take the set.
Wentworth ripped off the first four points of the third set, but Simmons put together a 9-2 run, paced by a kill and an ace from Fredrickson, to take a 9-6 lead. The Sharks led for the majority of the set and held a 17-15 margin, before the Leopards scored four of the next five points to take its first lead since early in the set. Wentworth continued the run with another 4-1 span as part of an 8-2 run, led by a pair of kills and an ace from first year middle hitter Samantha Lassiter (Rogers, Ark.) and two kills from Quick, to take a 23-19 set lead. Weeg later found the open floor for a kill to pull Simmons to within 23-22, but Quick registered a pair of kills to give the visitors a 25-22 win.
The teams traded runs in the first dozen points and sat tied at 6-6, before the Leopards went on a 10-3 run, sparked by a pair of aces from Clouse, to take a 16-9 advantage. Wentworth later took its biggest lead of the frame at 23-15. The Sharks dug deep and reeled off five unanswered points, capped by a kill from senior middle blocker Abby Hart (Westfield, Mass.) to cut the deficit to 23-20, but the Leopards scored the final two points, including the final point of the night on a kill from Lassiter.
Simmons returns to action on Wednesday, September 14 when it hosts Endicott College at 7:00 p.m., while Wentworth heads to Worcester Polytechnic Institute on September 10 for an 11:00 a.m. start.
