BOSTON, Mass. – The Norwich University women's volleyball team saw its 2014 season come to an end after losing 3-1 to Simmons College in the first round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament. Simmons won by scores of 25-18, 20-25, 25-20, and 25-23 to advance onto the semifinal round.

Senior setter Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) collected her first career double-doubles and led the team with 23 assists and 19 digs with four kills on the night. Senior outside hitter Alex Palmer (South Windsor, Conn.) collected her fourth double-doubles of the season with 17 kills and 14 digs. Freshman Alma Turpin (Sterling, Va.) chipped in with three service aces, six kills, and 13 digs along with two block assists.

The No. 6 seed Cadets came out storming with a 3-0 lead before No. 3 seed Simmons responded with a five point rally for the 5-3 lead. Trailing 9-6 midway through the set, Norwich found its rhythm and scored four straight points to take the 10-9 lead, thanks to a pair of errors by the Sharks. The lead did not last long as Simmons rallied back once again, scoring four straight points of its own before closing out the first set with a 25-18 lead.

The second set was a whole new game as the Cadets showed more intensity and came out strong with three straight kills to open the stanza before Simmons rallied back to tie up the contest. After a back and forth battle that saw an 8-8 tie, the Sharks jumped ahead with a 7-2 rally for what they thought was a comfortable 15-10 lead. However the Cadets refused to wilt and muscled their way through a three point deficit to tie it up at 17-17 before extending the lead to 20-17, forcing Simmons to call a timeout. With the momentum on their side, the Maroon and Gold continued to dominate the court and held off Simmons' late rally for the 25-20 victory to tie up the match.

Heading into the third set the Cadets looked to keep the momentum on its side but the Sharks had rebounded from a tough second set, igniting a 6-2 lead before a kill from Turpin sparked a four point rally to tie it up at six points apiece. Midway through the set that saw a pair of lead changes before Simmons took a comfortable 24-14 lead, the Cadets refueled their fire and utilized a six point rally with Palmer recording four kills to trail by four before Simmons called timeout. Simmons then recorded the final kill and set point to take the 2-1 lead.

Simmons looked to close out the match quickly in the fourth set after a 3-1 lead before Norwich rallied back into the set on a service ace from Baita and five errors by the Sharks for the 5-5 tie. Both teams vied for the lead twice before Simmons took a commanding 24-18 lead. The Cadets looked to finish the set strong, with a pair of kills from senior Kelsey Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) before the Sharks closed out the set 25-23 for the win.           

The Norwich University women's volleyball team ends the 2014 campaign 5-6 in the GNAC and 13-14 on the year.