Volleyball Shakes Simmons in Four

BOSTON – Kayla Barbera paved the way for Suffolk volleyball in a thrilling four-set victory over Simmons Wednesday night at Moore Gymnasium. The GNAC victory came by set scores 25-17, 25-21, 25-27 and 25-20.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3, Simmons 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (8-13, 5-3 GNAC) | Simmons (10-12, 6-4 GNAC)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-17, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk climbed out of a 7-3 hole with seven straight points to swing the set in its favor, 10-7. 
• The Rams maintained the lead until the Sharks made things interesting once again, leveling the playing field at 12-all at the midway point. 
• Four consecutive points from Suffolk kept the blue-and-gold in front, 16-12. 
• The Rams remained ahead from there, outscoring the Sharks, 9-5 the of the way to take the frame, 25-17.  

SET TWO RECAP (25-21, SUFFOLK)

• Simmons held a hefty 12-6 lead over Suffolk early on and took an 18-13 advantage.
• The Rams contained their composure and played catchup, rattling off five straight points to force the Sharks to take a timeout. 
• The break did not halt the blue-and-gold, who came out of the timeout with the next five points on the scoresheet in its favor and once against Simmons called a timeout. 
• A block by Hannah Fabiano came on the immediate play out of the break to set up set point.
• The Sharks did not go down without a fight as they strung together three straight points before Scott Blanchard called his team over. 
• Out of Suffolk's timeout, an attack error by Simmons Reilly Coombs sealed the stanza for the Rams, 25-21. 

SET THREE RECAP (27-25, SIMMONS)

• A back-and-forth battle was present throughout the third frame.
• From 16-all, the set locked nine more times before Simmons scored the final three points of the set to force the fourth frame, 27-25. 

SET FOUR RECAP (25-20, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk leaped out to an 8-1 lead. 
• Simmons pulled within two, 12-10. 
• The Rams kept the Sharks at bay and built a 19-15 cushion. 
• The deficit was trimmed to one, 21-20, but that's as close as Simmons would get as the blue-and-gold put up the final five points of the match.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Chidera Nwankwo scored 12 kills on an impressive .500 attack percentage to anchor Suffolk's 40-kill attack.
• Bridget Allison, who hit .417,  provided nine kills with Barbera and Fabiano each providing seven kills. 
• Talia Lombardo set up the offense with 33 assists to go with 11 digs. 
• Barbera had an all-around night with 11 digs and five aces to her credit.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk defeated Simmons for the first time since Sept. 30, 2010. 
• The Rams snapped an eight-match skid to the Sharks. 
• The blue-and-gold moved to 4-6 in four-sets versus Simmons. 
• Nwankwo matched a season-best 12 kills. 

POST-MATCH PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk heads to Northfield, Vermont, Saturday, Oct. 20 for a GNAC tri-match featuring Regis. The Rams will first take on the Pride at 1 p.m., before battling the Cadets at 3 p.m.