BOSTON, Mass. – Simmons College freshmanr Morgan Weeg (Goodyear, Ariz.) registered a match-high 15 points on 11 kills and four aces to lead the Sharks to a 3-0 (25-9, 25-12, 25-14) victory over visiting Lesley University this evening at Moore Gymnasium. The Sharks improve to 3-4 on the season, while the Lynx fall to 2-7.
Weeg hit .304 for the match and also came up with seven digs for the Sharks, while senior Abby Hart (Westfield, Mass.) swung for seven kills without committing an error in 19 attempts to record a .368 hitting mark in addition to a dig and a pair of blocks. Senior libero Alex Itasaka (Bradford, Mass.) picked up a match-high 10 digs, while first year setter Kenna McCarthy (Shelter Island, N.Y.) set for 23 assists. Senior defensive specialist Kat Guillotte (New Bedford, Mass.) also contributed for the home team with a career-high matching six aces and added four digs and a kill.
Lesley junior Anni Abbruzzese (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) and classmate Sarah Hollis (Hudson, Mass.) each topped Lesley with three kills apiece. Abbruzzese also added eight digs, while Hollis came up with two. Senior Jess Reynolds (Londonderry, N.H.) recorded a match-high 10 digs for the Lynx, while senior setter Vera Bednar (Helmond, Netherlands) doled out seven assists and picked up five digs.
Lesley took an early 3-2 lead following a kill by Hollis in the first set, but Simmons put together a 9-1 run, led by three kills from Hart, to take an 11-4 advantage. The home team maintained a 13-6 margin, before scoring nine of the next 10 points increase the lead to 22-7 before closing with a 25-9 opening set win.
Trailing 9-3, the Lynx closed the gap with three of the next four points to make it 10-6, before the Sharks countered with an 8-2 burst, led by three kills from Weeg to give the hosts an 18-8 cushion. Simmons later held a 20-10 lead, before scoring five of the final seven points, including aces from Weeg and junior Amber Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev.) to earn a 25-12 win.
The teams were tied at 10-10 and played close throughout the third set with neither leading by more than two points through the first 20 points of the frame. The Sharks ripped off four straight points as part of a 6-1 run to take a 16-11 lead, before Lesley answered with two points to cut the deficit to 16-13. Simmons came back with six straight points to increase the home team's margin to 22-13. The Sharks scored three of the last four points to take the match.
Lesley will be back on their home floor on Thursday when they host Framingham State University at 8:00p. Simmons will also be back in action on Thursday when it heads to Anna Maria College at 7:00p.