Volleyball Drops 3-1 Decision to Simmons

BOSTON, Mass. – The Simmons volleyball team broke a three-match losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Bridgewater State Bears (25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19) Tuesday evening at the Holmes Sports Center.

The Sharks (5-18) were led by senior Rossi Fish who posted 11 kills and just three errors to hit .381 on the evening.

Hannah Maymon posted a team-high 13 kills for the Bears (11-10), while Sydney Bennett added 10 kills with no errors for an impressive .714 hitting percentage.

Simmons took an early lead in game one as Nafessa Connolly recorded three service aces in a row. The Bears crawled back on Shark attacking errors and tied the game at 16 as Danielle Dean posted two service aces. Simmons pulled away in the final points as Nicole Alberghini buried a kill past the Bears defense and Fish drilled the final point home for the 25-22 win.

After a 6-6 start in game two, the Sharks offense began to dominate. Connolly added another of her six aces to give bring the Sharks to within one point of the win. A ball handling error by the Bears lifted the Sharks to a 2-0 lead (25-19).

The Bears dominated game three, taking the lead 4-3 and never looked back. Strong defense by Kristen Robillard and Charleyne Panner thwarted the Sharks attack.  Bridgewater posted a .435 hitting percentage in the set with 12 kills and just two errors in 23 attacks.

In the fourth game, Simmons took a 9-3 lead as Megan Chamberlin, Morgan Kieon and Alberghini each posted consecutive kills. Bridgewater fought back to within three points off a Sharks service error and two aces by Sarah Mullarkey. But Chamberlin started a five-point run for the Sharks who took control of the game. Kat Guillotte posted the Sharks final two kills to close out the victory, 25-19.

Duke notched 38 assists and nine digs for the Sharks.  Alberghini finished with 13 kills and a .323 hitting percentage.  Simmons recorded 12 aces in the match led by Connolly's six.

Dean finished with 12 digs, seven kills and a pair of aces for the Bears.  She now has 1,020 digs for her career which is good for seventh all-time in program history.  Robillard posted a team-high 16 digs in the match as she now has 1,250 digs in three seasons at BSU.  Robillard is third among the Bears' all-time leaders.

Panner chipped in with 14 digs, 25 assists and a pair of kills for the visitors.