FULLERTON, Calif. - The men's volleyball team picked up its first win of the year on the road in SoCal against (RV) Hope International in four sets.
The Royals grabbed the early 2-0 lead on back-to-back kills.
But a 6-0 SU run of attacking errors by the Royals allowed Simpson to jump in front., 6-2.
A Royals kill followed by three straight Simpson points in thanks to three kills by
Akira Davies put Simpson up 9-3 before a Hope International timeout.
Simpson took the first set victory 25-21 on a Royals error.
Simpson jumped out to the early 2-0 lead in set two after a couple of Royal miscues.
A back-and-forth set made it a one-point game, 11-12 in favor of the Royals before a 7-0 Hope run put them up 19-11 before a kill by Davies broke the streak.
However, the Royals took set two 25-18 to tie the match 1-1.
The Red Hawks answered back in set three by taking the first three points on two aces by
Quinn Wright.
Simpson took a commanding 13-6 lead thanks to Royal errors, kills by
Flavio Mercado, and an ace by
Keeyon Williams.
Hope fought back and took a two-point advantage late in the second set, 23-21 before Simpson reeled off four straight points to win the fourth set 25-23.
A kill by
Nathan Richards started the comeback and an ace by
David Raffaelli sealed the third set victory that pulled Simpson out in front 2-1 for the match.
A service error by the Royals to open the fourth set allowed Simpson to get on the board first.
A back-and-forth fourth set followed by exchanging rallies helped set up a thrilling finish.
Down 14-16, Simpson scored three straight points on a couple of attacking errors and an ace by Williams put Simpson back on top 17-16.
A 19-19 game late in the fourth set saw Simpson score five unanswered points to grab the commanding 24-19 lead.
Kills by Mercado and Davies combined with a service ace by Wright and a couple of Royals miscues allowed Simpson to play for match point.
A couple of Hope International points made it interesting before Davies slammed down the final kill to seal the 25-21 set four victory and the game.
Flavio Mercado had a stellar game with a team-high 13 kills and a hitting percentage of .313 for the game.
Akira Davies followed close behind with nine kills, one ace, and two total blocks.
Jean-Paul James had a solid game in the net with three total blocks and eight kills.
Simpson's next game comes against Hope International and Menlo in the Menlo College Tournament on Feb. 17th.
