BOSTON, Mass. – First year outside hitter Morgan Weeg (Goodyear, Ariz.) registered a match-high 15 points on 11 kills and four aces to lead the Simmons College women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-9, 25-12, 25-14) victory over visiting Lesley University this evening at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks win their second straight match to improve to 3-4 on the season, while the Lynx fall to 2-6.
Simmons hit .247 for the match and served up 12 aces in the three-set win.
Weeg hit .304 for the match and also came up with seven digs for the Sharks, while senior middle blocker Abby Hart (Westfield, Mass.) swung for seven kills without committing an error in 19 attempts to record a .368 hitting mark in addition to a dig and a pair of blocks. Senior libero Alex Itasaka (Bradford, Mass.) picked up a match-high 10 digs and fired an ace, while first year setter Kenna McCarthy (Shelter Island, N.Y.) set for 23 assists, served for an ace and got down for a dig. Senior defensive specialist Kat Guillotte (New Bedford, Mass.) also contributed for the home team with a career-high matching six aces and added four digs and a kill.
Junior outside hitter Anni Abbruzzese (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) (four kills) and junior rightside hitter Sarah Hollis (Hudson, Mass.) (three kills) combined for seven kills for Lesley. Abbruzzese also added eight digs, while Hollis came up with two. Senior outside hitter Jess Reynolds (Londonderry, N.H.) recorded a match-high 10 digs for the Lynx, while senior setter Vera Bednar (Helmond, Netherlands) doled out eight assists and picked up five digs.
Lesley took an early 3-2 lead following a kill by Hollis in the first set, but Simmons put together a 9-1 run, led by three kills from Hart, to take an 11-4 advantage. The home team maintained a 13-6 margin, before scoring nine of the next 10 points, fueled by two kills and an ace from Weeg, to increase the lead to 22-7. The Sharks scored four of the final six points, including a kill by Hart to give them a 25-9 opening-set victory.
Simmons scored five of the first six points of the second frame, led by a pair of aces from Guillotte and later owned a 9-3 lead. The Lynx closed the gap with three of the next four points to make it 10-6, before the Sharks countered with an 8-2 burst, led by three kills from Weeg to give the hosts an 18-8 cushion. Simmons later held a 20-10 lead, before scoring five of the final seven points, including aces from Weeg and junior right side hitter Amber Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev.) to earn a 25-12 win.
The teams were tied at 10-10 and played close throughout the third set with neither leading by more than two points through the first 20 points of the frame. The Sharks ripped off four straight points as part of a 6-1 run to take a 16-11 lead, before Lesley answered with two points to cut the deficit to 16-13. Simmons came back with six straight points, led by three aces from Guillotte to increase the home team's margin to 22-13. The Sharks scored three of the last four points to take the match.
Simmons returns to the court on Thursday, September 22 when it heads to Paxton, Mass. to take on Great Northeast Athletic Conference foe Anna Maria College at 7:00 p.m., while the Lynx host Framingham State University on the same night at 8:00 p.m.