WENHAM, Mass. -- Junior defensive specialist Julia Fusco (Beverly, Mass.) fired a career-high eight aces and classmate Morgan Weeg (Goodyear, Ariz.) put down a match-high 15 kills to lead the Simmons University women's volleyball team over host Gordon College, 3-1, this evening at the Bennett Center in Wenham, Mass. The Sharks improve to 4-3 on the season, while the Fighting Scots fall to 4-4.
Simmons hit .195 or better in all four sets and finished the night with a .273 hitting percentage, while firing a season-best 18 aces. The Sharks rebounded to win the final three sets after dropping the opening frame, 25-20. Simmons won the next two sets, 25-19 and 26-24, before dominating the deciding set, 25-12, on a .450 hitting percentage.
Fusco added four digs to her effort for the Sharks. Weeg also picked up three digs. First year outside hitter Sydney Iannantuono (East Lyme, Conn.) put away 11 kills on a .375 hitting mark to go with a dig and a block assist, while junior middle blocker Megan Purser (Miami, Fla.) spiked for nine kills on a torrid .615 hitting mark to go with a block assist. Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Fortune (Round Rock, Texas) also put down nine kills as one of four Simmons players with nine or more kills on the night. Fortune owned a .438 hitting percentage in addition to three aces, two block assists and a dig. Junior setter Faith Gray-Williams (Las Vegas, Nev.) set for 39 assists and added three aces, five digs and a kill, while junior libero Morgan Lauvray (Murrieta, Calif.) came up with 19 digs to anchor the defense.
Junior middle hitter Jacque Fitzgerald (Wyantskill, N.Y.) registered a robust .611 hitting percentage to fuel a 12-kill showing in addition to a pair of block assists and a dig to lead Gordon. Graduate student Jamie Tafoya (Fort Collins, Colo.) spiked for 11 kills added four digs and three block assists and senior outside hitter Amanda Snyder (San Jose, Calif.) finished just a kill shy of a double-double, swinging for nine kills on a .304 hitting percentage and added 10 digs to go with two aces. Junior setter Ashlyn Gergins (Murrieta, Calif.) racked up 38 assists to go with four kills, two aces and a block.
The Sharks return to action on Saturday, September 14 when they travel to Hartford, Conn. to take on Trinity College (Conn.) at 11:00 a.m., while the Fighting Scots host Bridgewater State Univerisity on the same day at 10:00 a.m.