BOSTON, Mass. - The Simmons College women's volleyball team was defeated by visiting Johnson & Wales University, 3-0 (25-12, 25-8, 25-15), this evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks' three-match win streak comes to an end as they fall to 8-7 overall and 2-1 in league play, while the Wildcats improve to a perfect 14-0 and 4-0.
Johnson & Wales hit .444 for the match and committed just three attack errors as a team for the match, while Simmons made 14 service errors on the night.
Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Weeg (Goodyear, Ariz.) led all players with 10 kills for the Sharks and added two digs, while first year outside hitter Jarene Harberts (Naples, Fla.) put down seven kills to go with a dig. Sophomore setter Kenna McCarthy (Shelter Island, N.Y.) set for 11 assists and picked up five digs, while first year libero Julia Fusco (Beverly, Mass.) recorded 10 digs for Simmons.
Scudder swung for a blistering .875 hitting mark, missing just one of eight attack attempts for a kill and added a dig and a block assist for JWU, while Dolan hit .583, picked up a pair of digs and got up for three total blocks, including a solo. Sophomore setter Brylee Frank (Palm City, Fla.) directed the offense with 23 assists, fired three aces, picked up two digs and registered a block assist. Sophomore outside hitter Maria Coniglio (Old Bethpage, N.Y.) recorded a match-high 12 digs and added five kills.
The Wildcats hit .450 for the opening set. Weeg put down a kill to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead in the first set, but it would be the only time they would lead for the rest of the set. Johnson & Wales went on a 6-1 run to take a 6-2 lead and later owned a 9-5 lead following a kill from Simmons first year Morgan Lauvray (Murrieta, Calif.). The Wildcats put together a 9-1 stretch to put the match out of reach at 18-6. The Sharks tallied three of the next four points, including a pair of kills from first year middle blocker Brittany Gotts (Topsfield, Mass.), to pull to within 19-9, but Johnson and Wales closed out the match, scoring four of the final five points.
The Wildcats opened the second frame with an 8-2 lead, behind three kills from junior outside hitter Katie Leidhold (Acushnet, Mass.). Simmons scored two of the next three points, but Johnson & Wales put distance between itself and its host with a 10-2 burst, paced by two aces from Frank, to take a 19-6 advantage. First year outside hitter Kelly Delaney (Calais, Maine) finished the set with a kill to give the Wildcats a 2-0 match lead.
Weeg gave the Sharks a 4-3 edge in the third set, following back-to-back kills, but Johnson & Wales responded with an 8-1 stretch, including a pair of kills from Scudder, to take an 11-5 lead. The Wildcats later opened an 18-9 lead after another ace from Frank, but Simmons reeled off three unanswered points as part of a 5-1 burst, including an ace from first year Faith Gray-Williams (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Lauvray, to pull to within 19-14. Johnson & Wales scored five of the next six points, including a pair of kills from Leidhold, to win the set by 10 and complete the three-set sweep.
The Sharks get back on the court tomorrow night when they head to Newton, Mass. to take on GNAC foe Mount Ida College at 5:00 p.m., while the Wildcats return to action on September 29 when they host number 14 nationally-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 5:00 p.m.