BOSTON – Simmons volleyball (12-7, 6-1 GNAC) was handed its first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss by Rivier University (15-4, 5-0 GNAC) on Thursday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: Rivier 25, Simmons 20
The two teams exchanged the first four points, before the Raiders took advantage of a string of attack errors from the Sharks to take a 7-3 lead. Rivier kept building on their lead and forced Simmons to call its first timeout following back-to-back kills by Avery Pollard and Cadia Greene to take an 11-5 lead.

Rivier continued to show its dominance in the first set, increasing the lead to 10 – their largest lead of the set with kills from Sydney Racevicius and Cadia Greene.

The Sharks clawed their way back. Late in the set, senior Sydney Iannantuono and sophomore Meghan Doxsee rejected Ali Rivera's attack tempt to cut the deficit to three, 22-19, but that's as close as they'd come.

Set 2: Rivier 25, Simmons 19
The beginning of the second set mirrored the start of the first set with five ties, including a massive kill by Iannantuono to tie the game at 5-5. But the Raiders pulled back on in front in part to kills by Pollard and Racevicius to take a 13-8 lead and force Shark head coach Pat Helmas to call his first timeout.

Rivier kept the offensive pressure on Simmons extending the lead to as many as nine, 23-14, and held off a late Shark charge to take the 2-0 match advantage. 

Set 3: Simmons 25, Rivier 21
With their backs against the wall and down two games, the Sharks faced a tall challenge. They fell down early to the Raiders in the third set, 6-3, but shifted momentum over to their bench. Junior Jayla Parnell capped off a 7-2 run with three straight kills to take a 10-8 lead and force Rivier to call its first time out.

The Sharks stayed in front of the Raiders for the next 15 points, but the Raiders' potent offense was still hanging around. After a service error by the Sharks, tied the match at 17, Racevicius slammed down a kill to give the Raiders their first lead since early in the set.

It didn't last for too long. Five points later sophomore Nalani Majkia registered a hard kill to tie the set at 20-20 and the Sharks never looked back taking the third set, 25-21. 

Set 4: Rivier 25, Simmons 20
The match looked poised to go to five sets as the Sharks carried their offensive momentum into back-and-forth fourth set. Late in the game Iannantuono tied up the set at 20-20 with a service ace, but the Raiders went on a 5-0 run with a pair of kills by Racevicius sandwiched in to seal the match.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• Junior setter Kat Simeonidis registered fourth double-double of the season, pacing the offense with 38 assists and tallying 10 digs.
• Junior outside hitter Jayla Parnell posted a .314 attack percentage with 14 kills on 35 attempts and just three errors.
• Sophomore Nalani Majkia registered a career single-game high five block assists.
• Junior Claire Conners led the way for the Sharks with 16 kills, while tallying four block assists 

GAME NOTES

• Simmons tied its season-best in block assists this season recording 14 as a team with five different players had blocks – Conners (4), Majkia (5), Parnell (3), Iannantuono (1), and Doxsee (1) 

UP NEXT
Simmons returns to the hardcourt on Tuesday, October 18 when they host No. 22 Babson College at 7 p.m.