NEW LONDON, N.H. – October 30, 2018 – The third-seeded Colby-Sawyer College women's volleyball team defeated sixth-seeded Simmons University Sharks, 3-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Quarterfinal match Tuesday evening. The Chargers won by scores of 25-20, 26-24, 23-25 and 25-23.

Colby-Sawyer improves to 21-10 and advances to the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday at second-seeded Rivier. The Raiders advanced with a 3-0 win over seventh-seeded Emmanuel. Simmons ends its season at 14-15.

Colby-Sawyer first-year Maddie Bromley (Truckee, Calif.) led all players with 16 kills and 19 digs. Junior Naarah Cox (Boston, Mass.) added nine kills, two solo blocks and five block assists. She moved into eighth in career blocks with 217. Senior Courtney Murray (Quincy, Mass.) chipped in five kills to move into ninth in career kills with 864. First-year setter Anna Allen (Los Angeles, Calif.) posted a match best 37 assists, while junior Morgan Flynn (Reading, Mass.) finished with 15 digs.

Simmons was led by first-year Amanda Fortune (Round Rock, Texas.). She registered 11 kills on .444 hitting and added four block assists. First-year Krissy Lloyd (Tampa, Fla.) also reached double figures with 10 kills. Sophomore Faith Gray-Williams (Las Vegas, Nev.) filled the stat sheet with nine kills, 22 assists and 17 digs.

The home team raced out to an 8-2 lead in the first set, which was capped by a Sam Mohammed (Killingworth, Conn.) kill. Simmons rallied to eventually tie the set at 11-11 after a kill by Lloyd. With the score 20-18, Colby-Sawyer finished the set on a 5-2 run, thanks to three kills from Bromley, including the set-clincher. Bromley had six kills in the set.

The second set was close throughout and featured nine ties and three lead changes. Simmons took an 18-13 lead to force a Colby-Sawyer timeout. The Chargers battled back to tie the score at 21-21 to force a Simmons timeout. The teams traded the next few points until the Chargers closed the frame with a kill from Katarina Hornung (Stratton, Colo.) and a Simmons error. First-year Reilly Coombs (Deland, Fla.) had four kills for Simmons, while Bromley added five more to her total.

The third set had more drama as it featured 10 ties and six lead changes. The Chargers held a 15-13 lead, but a few errors, coupled with kills from Coombs and Riley Roberge (Peoria, Ariz.), put the Sharks in front 19-16. Leading 21-18 for the second set in a row, Simmons was able to close the frame out with a kill from Fortune.

The fourth set did not disappoint as the result was in doubt throughout the stanza. The score was tied, for the 10th time, at 19-19 when Simmons committed a couple of errors and took a timeout. The Chargers then benefited from two more service errors and closed the match with Sam Mohammed's sixth kill of the match. 

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