REDDING, Calif. - The men's volleyball squad celebrated Senior Night tonight in a straight-set victory over the Pioneers.
The Red Hawks honored four seniors before the game;
Flavio Mercado,
Nathan Richards,
Quinn Wright, and
Kobe Valdez.
Back-to-back kills by
Nathan Richards got the night's scoring underway followed by kills by
Flavio Mercado and
Jacob Shelton to give Simpson the early 5-2 lead.
With the core tied at 11, Simpson reeled off four straight points on kills by
Francis Gates, Richards, and Shelton while Shelton and Richards picked up a duo block.
Simpson closed out the first set on a 5-1 run to take the 25-17 first set victory.
They kept the momentum rolling in the second set as they jumped out to the early 3-0 lead on kills by
Akira Davies and Gates.
The Red Hawks pulled away on a 7-2 run to take the 16-11 lead on a block by Davies and kills by Davies, Gates, and Richards.
Mercado ended the second set as Mercado slammed down the set-clinching point as they took the 2-0 match lead on a 25-19 second set victory.
The Red Hawks looked to take the game in straight sets as they jumped out on the board first on an ace by
Micah Nakasato.
But the Pioneers did not go quietly as they took the 16-15 lead before the Red Hawks came storming back as they scored five unanswered points to take the 20-16 lead.
Pacific Union rallied back as they pulled within two points late in the third set before the Red Hawks closed out the game on a 3-1 run as Mercado slammed down the game-ending kill.
Mercado had a huge senior night on the outside as he posted a team-high 12 kills to go along with a stellar .524 hitting percentage.
Davies and Richards followed close behind with nine kills while Shelton and Gates posted eight kills.
Nakasato had a big game as he notched a team-high 38 assists to go along with two aces and four digs.
The Red Hawks are back in action tomorrow night as they take on Jessup at 6 pm in its final home game of the year.
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