Simpson Goes 3-1 At Augustana Invitational
Simpson College (13-7) posted a 3-1 record at the Augustana Invitational Oct. 3-4 in Rock Island, Ill. The Storm opened the meet by defeated UW-Platteville 3-1. Amy Schuster (So., Indianola, Iowa, Indianola H.S.) led the Storm with a double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs. Lara Gillespie (Jr., Lake Park, Iowa, Harris-Lake Park H.S.) had 18 digs and nine kills. Brittany Friesth (Jr., Adel, ADM H.S.) posted 15 digs. Tara Christensen (Jr., Hinton, Iowa, Hinton H.S.) charted 39 assists, eight digs, and seven kills.
Simpson dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 8 Carthage College in match two. Schuster had 10 kills and eight digs. Christensen put up a double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs. Frieseth charted 14 digs while Gillespie had 10 digs and six kills.
The Storm began day two with a 3-0 victory over IIAC rival Coe. Gillespie registered a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs. Friesth tallied 11 digs while Christensen recorded 26 assists, six digs, and five kills.
Simpson ended the tournament with a 3-1 victory over the host, Augustana. Schuster registered a career high 21 digs and a season high 18 kills. Christensen nearly posted a triple-double. The 5-7 setter had 50 assists, 15 digs, and seven kills. Gillespie also had a double-double as she had 15 kills and 20 digs. Friesth added 24 digs.
Christensen and Schuster were named to the All-Tournament team. Christensen average 9.71 assists, 2.79 digs, and 1.5 kills during the tournament. Schuster averaged 3.29 kills, 3.64 digs, and 0.36 blocks per game. The Storm resume action Tuesday night at Cornell College. The first serve is set for 7:30 p.m.
“The weekend was a solid competition and challenge for us,” said Simpson head coach Lana Smith. “We were pleased with our record. Our overall team play is coming along in many areas. We played very aggressively this weekend and will continue to work on our consistency. We finished strong and played really well against Augustana and hope to carry that momentum into Tuesday night’s match (at Cornell).