BOSTON – Simmons volleyball (4-5, 2-0 GNAC) opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) with a pair of sweeps against Emmanuel College (1-6, 0-2 GNAC) and Regis College (5-6, 1-1 GNAC) on Saturday afternoon.

SIMMONS 3, EMMANUEL 0

Against their neighborhood rivals, the Sharks set the tone of the match, winning the first set, 25-17. Junior setter Kat Simeonidis not only paced the offense with seven assists, but was nearly perfect from the floor notching two kills on three attempts.

The Saints rebounded in the second set, making it a battle. But the Sharks were able to get the better of their next-door neighbors, edging out Emmanuel, 25-23, to take the two-match advantage. Sophomore outside hitter Joenissa Ortiz led the way with four kills to go along with five defensive digs.  

Emmanuel did not make the three-set win for Simmons easy. They kept the third set close all game before the Sharks pulled out the 25-23 victory. Beatty was outstanding from the floor posting a .429 attack percentage, tallying four kills on seven attempts in the set to lead Simmons to the 3-0 sweep.

SIMMONS 3, REGIS 0

After the Pride picked up its first conference win following a 3-0 sweep of the Saints in the middle, neutral site match, the final game of the day appeared to be a highly contested battle. But looks can be deceiving.

Senior outside hitter Sydney Iannantuono used her veteran leadership to help the Sharks take a  1-0 match advantage. The Connecticut native posted a .375 attack percentage with four kills on eight attempts with just one error en route to a 25-18 win.

The second set was a barn-burner. When the Pride went on a 4-0 run to take an 11-8 lead, it appeared momentum was swinging over to the Pride bench, which forced Head Coach Pat Helmas to call his first timeout of the game.

It was a good reset for the Sharks, coming out of the timeout with a 5-1 run to take a 13-12 lead, but they never quite pulled completely away. With two ties and two lead changes over the next eight points, it wasn't until Beatty's kill made it a two-point, 18-16 game that momentum was back on the side of the Sharks, holding on to take the set, 25-22.

In the final set of the day, Iannantuono hit .400 from the floor with five kills on 10 attempts and just one error, while Beatty also posted five kills to seal the match with another 25-22 victory.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• Sophomore outside hitter April Beatty registered 22 kills against Emmanuel and Regis, including tying her career single-game high with 12 against Pride in match two.
• Senior outside hitter Sydney Iannantuono hit .318 against the Pride with 10 kills on 22 attempts, to go with 10 digs for her third double-double.
• Junior setter Kat Simeonidis paced the offense with 49 assists and tacked on five aces – all against the Pride in the second match.
• Sophomore Joenissa Ortiz also notched five aces on the afternoon, while rounding out the Sharks in double figure kills with 12.

UP NEXT
Simmons returns to the hard-court on Tuesday, September 20 when they travel to the western part of the state to play Westfield State at 7 p.m.