REDDING, Calif. - The women's volleyball team picked up a victory in its final game of the three-day home stand against Cal Pac rival Park-Gilbert University 3-1.
Simpson continued its momentum from its five-set thriller the night before as they took set one by the score of 25-19.
The Buccaneers and Red Hawks exchanged rallies back and forth with some beneficiary points from Park Mishaps.
Set two was an absolute thriller as the Red Hawks and Buccaneers needed to go past the standard 25 points to determine a winner.
No more than three points ever separated the two teams throughout the whole set.
With its backs against the wall 24-22, Simpson pulled within one point on
Tiana Nihipali's kill and then later tied the score at 24 on
Mallory Swenson's ace to push the match over 25.
A 3-0 Simpson run ended the match with the help of two Buccaneers misplays and a service ace by
Katie Graham to put away the match and give Simpson a 2-0 advantage.
But the Buccaneers would not go quietly as they returned the favor and took set three by the score of 25-21.
The fourth set followed a similar fashion of excitement as it was only fitting for the fourth set to go past the standard 25-point mark.
Park was in a prime position to push the game to a fifth set as they were up late 23-20. But a 4-0 Red Hawk run sparked by a Graham kill opened the door for a late comeback.
Simpson would seal the deal and take set four and the match on back-to-back kills by
Tiara Manns.
Mallory Swenson, Manns, and Nihipali each recorded double-digit kills for a combined 36 kills.
Kayla Somontan played an integral role as she posted 42 assists and 10 digs.
Julia Zamfir had a solid game in the middle as she registered four total blocks to go along with six kills.
Madison Kammuller led the defense with a team-high 14 digs.
With the win, Simpson is now 1 GB Westcliff for the sixth and final playoff spot with two games left.
The Red Hawks will hit the road this week on Thursday to take on Pacific Union College at 7 PM.
