November 7, 2009

INDIANOLA, IOWA . . . The Simpson College volleyball team now awaits their next opponent and destination after winning the program's sixth Iowa Conference Volleyball Tournament title with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 sweep of No. 3 seed Wartburg Saturday at Cowles Fieldhouse. The win secured for the Storm the Iowa Conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship.

The Storm outhit the Knights .279-.123 for the match, including a .362-.146 margin in the final set. In addition, Simpson held Wartburg to just 26 kills, while putting down 54 of their own.

Lara Gillespie hit .324 to lead the Storm with 14 digs and a match-high 16 kills, while Whitney Oviatt and Amy Schuster added 12 kills apiece. Schuster hit .364 for the match, making only four errors on the attack. Tara Christensen had 48 assists and Brittany Friesth posted 15 digs.

Britlyn Sieck led the Knights (18-17) with eight kills, while Britney Hermsen added 10 digs and a team-high 19 assists. Channing Merchant posted a team-high 12 digs.

The Storm will know no later than 10:00 AM Monday morning who they face and where on the map they will make their seventh NCAA Division III appearance. Washington University in St. Louis and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh are the closest institutions who received the NCAA's "local" regional site opportunities.

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