BOSTON – Simmons volleyball (2-5) was outlasted by Salve Regina (6-1) in tough non-conference Thursday night match up.

Graduate senior Chelsea Simmons registered her second triple double of the season, posting a .432 attack percentage tallying 17 kills on 37 attempts, while also notching 28 assists and 13 digs. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: Salve Regina 25, Simmons 22
The Seahawks took an early 1-0 match advantage, winning the first set, 25-22. Chelsea Simmons along with fellow senior Claire Conners and junior April Beatty all led the way for the Sharks with four kills.

Set 2: Simmons 26, Salve Regina 24
However, the game shifted over towards Simmons in the second set. Raising their hitting percentage to .293, the Sharks evened up the match at one, holding off a late Seahawk comeback.

The Sharks saw outstanding offense from their outside hitters. Senior Jayla Parnell was nearly perfect notching four kills on five attempts, while Chelsea Simmons was flawless posting six kills on 12 attempts.

Set 3: Simmons 25, Salve Reginia 11
After tying up the match in the second set, momentum was in the Sharks favor, hitting .303 as a team to take the 2-1 match advantage. Conners came on strong in the set, registering four kills on seven attempts with just one error for a solid .417 attack percentage, while Parnell followed with three kills.

Defensively, the Sharks were a force at the net. Junior Meghan Doxsee went up for three block assists, while Chelsea Simmons collected two of her own. 

Set 4: Salve Regina 25, Simmons 20
The Seahawks would not go away quietly. Behind an eight-kill set from Brighton Solheim, Salve Regina posted a staggering .342 attack percentage to tie the match and force a deciding fifth set.

Set 5: Salve Regina 15, Simmons 12
The final set was a back-and-forth, grinder. Salve Regina took an early lead, but Simmons battled back and behind three kills in four points from Conners, the Sharks were able to take an 8-7 lead. 

However, the Seahawks answered and re-gained the lead at 10-7 and forced the Sharks to call their first timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Sharks took advantage of a Seahawk attack error to tie the game, then took a one-point, 11-10 lead on a kills from Chelsea Simmons. But three straight Seahawk points later, saw the Sharks down 13-11 and Salve Regina did not look back.  

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• Graduate senior Chelsea Simmons notched her second triple-double of the season, tallying 17 kills to match 28 assists and 13 digs.
• First-year libero Carolina Rodriguez surpassed her career single-game best tallying 25 digs.
• Junior Meghan Doxsee tied her career single-game best with six block assists as she finished with seven total blocks.
• Senior Claire Conners recorded 15 kills and also tied her single-game best with four block assists.

GAME NOTES

• Simmons registered 21 total blocks – 20 assisted and one solo – in the five sets.

UP NEXT
Simmons returns to the hardcourt this weekend when they travel to the western part of Massachusetts for tri-match against Mt. St. Vincent (3 p.m.) and Smith College (5 p.m.) in Northampton on Saturday, September 16.