Posted: Oct 17, 2018
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.