SCORE: Wheaton 3 - Simmons 1 (24-26, 25-19, 26-24, 25-20)

RECORDS: Wheaton (22-8, 5-4 NEWMAC) - Simmons (14-13, 7-4 GNAC)

LOCATION: Boston, Mass. (Moore Gymnasium) 

THE RUNDOWN:  

• The Wheaton College volleyball team defeated Simmons College, 3-1, on the road in Boston this evening. Wheaton improves to 22-8 overall before heading into their final regular season and NEWMAC contest before postseason play begins on Tuesday, October 30. Simmons drops to 14-13 on the year after tonight's loss. 
• Wheaton was led by 15 kills each from Adara Hamilton and Claire Cansler. Hamilton finished with 19 points and Cansler recorded a .375 attacking percentage. 
• Julia Fusco of Simmons led the court with 19 digs with Maggie Shafer leading the way for the Lyons with 16. 
• Becca Houghton recorded 38 assists on the evening, which went along with 10 digs. Faith Gray-Williams paced the Sharks with 19 assists. 
• Simmons took game one, 26-24. The Sharks initially trailed, 6-2, but reached a 7-6 lead with a kill from Gray-Williams. The Lyons trailed the rest of the contest until Haley McCreight put the visitors on top, 19-18, with a kill from Houghton. The contest was knotted, 24-24, but Simmons reached a two-point lead at 26 with a pair of kills from Gray-Williams and Krissy Lloyd. 
• Wheaton tied the match at 1 contest each with a 25-19 set 2 win. The Lyons reached a 3-2 advantage and never trailed from that point on, eventually gaining their largest lead of the set at 17-11 with a Houghton kill, and then again at 25-19 as a Cansler kill sealed the victory. 
• Set three came to a close in similar fashion to the first set, with the victory falling in Wheaton's favor this time. Cat McGregor recorded the kill that tied the set at 24-24, but Wheaton would claim the victory thanks to a Simmons attacking error and a service ace from Shafer. 
• The Lyons climbed to a 17-10 lead in set three, their largest of the set, after three consecutive points and a Simmons attacking error. The Sharks fought back to close the gap and eventually brought the set within two points at 22-20, but Wheaton would score the final three points including a Hamilton kill to end the game. 

THE BASICS:

• Attacking percentage: Wheaton  .174 - Simmons .117
• Service aces: Wheaton 11 - Simmons 9
• Digs: Wheaton 62 - Simmons 63
• Block solos: Wheaton 0 - Simmons 1
• Block assists: Wheaton 20 - Simmons 8

UP NEXT: Wheaton concludes the 2018 regular season on Saturday, October 28, when they travel to take on the Bears of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy at 1:00 p.m. VIDEO / LIVE STATS