NASHUA, N.H. – The fourth seed Simmons volleyball team (17-10) is heading to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship game for the first time since 2017 after a five-set upset the top seed Rivier University (25-4) on Thursday evening.
Junior outside hitter Claire Conners surpassed her career single-game high tallying 27 kills, while fellow junior Kat Simeonidis paced the offense with 40 assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set 1: Rivier 25, Simmons 17
The Sharks came out of the gate strong, jumping out to an early 4-0 advantage, but the Raiders mounted their comeback to tie the match at seven. It was a back-and-forth match for the next 18 points before Rivier took control of the game utilizing a 7-0 run to take a 23-16 lead.
Set 2: Rivier 25, Simmons 23
Momentum continued to favor the Raiders at the start of the second second set as they quick jumped out to an 8-4 lead, forcing Head Coach Pat Helmas to call his first time out. The Sharks hung in the set, pulling to within one point of Raiders twice before Rivier extended their lead to five, 18-13.
Facing a five-point deficit and the tall task of going down two games to a tough Rivier team, Simmons battled their way back. Following a kill from junior outside hitter Claire Conners the Sharks went on a 6-0 run to re-gain lead, 19-18 and force the Raiders to call their first timeout.
Momentum looked to switch address over to Simmons as they took a 23-21, leading to Rivier to call its second time out. But the Raiders answered, rattling off four straight points to win the second set, 25-23, take a two-match advantage.
Set 3: Simmons 25, Rivier 22
Despite trailing by two games, the Sharks refused to give in and showed a lot of fight, taking an 11-8 lead midway through the third set. However, the Raiders showed great poise and took advantage of Shark missteps igniting a 9-2 run to take a 17-13 run and sit in the driver's seat of heading back to the GNAC Championship match.
Simmons inched their way back, pulling to within a point of the lead before tying the third set 19-19 following an attack error by Brynn Roche. The Raiders grabbed a quick two-point, 21-19, lead, but it was short lived. Spearheaded by a monstrous kill from Conners, the Sharks answered with a 6-1 run to force a fourth set.
Set 4: Simmons 25, Rivier 19
Rivier opened the fourth set winning the first two points, but the momentum winds began to swing over to the Simmons bench. Behind three kills from Conners, a pair of service aces from junior setter Kat Simeonidis and a block assist from Jayla Parnell and Meghan Doxsee, the Sharks rallied back with a 12-2 run to take a commanding 12-4 lead.
The Sharks maintained a wide spread, but the Raiders were mounting a mid-set comeback, pulling to within five points. Parnell put Simmons in the driver's seat, extending their lead 20-13. They withstood a mini River late threat, but Simeonidis forced the fifth set with a sixth service ace of the match.
Set 5: Simmons 15, Rivier 12
The fifth set was a barn-burner between the two powerful squads. Simmons grabbed the 7-6 lead on an attack error by Lily Sills before Parnell registered a service ace to go up 8-6 as the two teams switched sides. Simmons never looked back, holding Rivier off to take the fifth set, 15-12 and advance to the GNAC title game for the first time since 2017.
UP NEXT
No. 4 Simmons will compete for their first GNAC championship when they travel to Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday, November 5 to face No. 2 Johnson & Wales University.
