REDDING, Calif. - The Simpson University women's volleyball team bounced back on day two of its SoCal road trip as they defeated D3 opponent Occidental College 3-1.
The Red Hawks took the first set by the score of 25-17. A back-and-forth battle kept it deadlocked until a 5-0 Simpson run created enough separation to close out the set.
However, Occidental returned the favor as they took set two convincingly by a score of 25-15.
Set three and four shaped up to be a nail bitter as the Red Hawks and Tigers jostled back and forth.
The Red Hawks edged out the Tigers in set four by the score of 25-22 thanks to a 6-0 Red Hawk rally.
The fourth and final set called for a late Red Hawk comeback. Simpson found itself trailing for much of the final set but a relentless Simpson team pulled a key 5-0 run late in the set to close out the game.
Mallory Swenson and
Julia Zamfir played a key piece during the run as they combined for two big-time blocks and two big kills by Zamfir.
Freshman
Tiara Manns had a big game as she registered a team-high 16 kills to go along with a .342 hitting percentage.
Setter
Kayla Somontan had another solid game as she recorded 29 assists to put her at 58 assists over the past two games. She also had a team-leading 15 digs on the night.
Zamfir had quite the game in the middle of the net as she recorded six kills to go along with six total blocks on the night.
The Red Hawks are looking to build off the momentum as they prepare to play first-place Saint Katherine University (RV) tomorrow at 2 PM.
