NORTON, Mass. -- First year outside hitter Sydney Iannantuono (East Lyme, Conn.) put away 13 kills to lead the Simmons University women's volleyball team in a 3-1 (11-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-16) loss to host Wheaton College (Mass.) this evening at Emerson Gymnasium in Norton, Mass. The Sharks fall to 11-6 on the season, while the Lyons have won three of their last four to improve to 14-8.
Simmons came out strong, winning the opening set, 25-11, but Wheaton's attack was too much over the next three sets as the host Lyons hit .394, .243 and .343, in the second, third and fourth sets, respectively.
Iannantuono hit .216 for the match and picked up eight digs for the Sharks, while junior outside hitter Morgan Weeg (Goodyear, Ariz.) smashed 12 kills and came up with seven digs. Junior middle hitter Megan Purser (Miami, Fla.) contributed with seven kills and a career-best seven digs and sophomore middle blocker Amanda Fortune (Round Rock, Texas) chipped in with 10.5 points on five kills, five aces and a block assist. Junior setter Faith Gray-Williams (Las Vegas, Nev.) posted a double-double of 37 assists and 11 digs to go with three aces and junior libero Morgan Lauvray (Murrieta, Calif.) led all players with 21 digs.
The Lyons received 14 kills from junior right side hitter Julia Palomba (San Carlos, Calif.), while both first year right side hitter Bailey Madrzyk (Barrington, Ill.) and junior middle blocker Casey Dinga (Windham, N.H.) finished with 11. Senior setter Becca Houghton (Emmaus, Pa.) collected 34 assists to go with three kills and three service aces. Sophomore outside hitter Adara Hamilton (Mercer Island, Wash.) ended the night with 18 digs, while first year defensive specialist Ariana Rajaee (Marlborough, Conn.) had 16, Palomba finished with 15, and Houghton pulled up 12. Houghton also finished the night with seven blocks, while first year middle blocker Kyra Mattera (Narragansett, R.I.) had six.
Simmons returns to action on Saturday, October 12 when it travels to Northfield, Vt. to take on host Norwich University and Albertus Magnus College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match beginning at 11:00 a.m., while Wheaton hosts Babson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference action on October 15 at 7:00 p.m.