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Red Hawks light up Bruins in five-set victory
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The Bruce Springsteen's song "Dancing in the Dark" goes "you can't start a fire without a spark."
The Simpson University volleyball team has struggled to find enough intensity - its fire - to play through what has become a disappointing, injury-plagued season.
But the spark may finally have been ignited as the Red Hawks snapped a three-game skid to beat Bethany 19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12 Saturday at home.
Shelby Sweat battled through a sore shoulder to lead Simpson (3-4 California Pacific Conference, 4-15) with 17 kills and five service aces. Senior middle blocker Stacy Viss had 15 kills and three aces, while junior Nicole Eileen added 12 kills and 18 digs.
Before the game, Simpson head coach Melissa Church said her team has struggled to mesh together and tends to play too passive.
Saturday's game started the same way as the Red Hawks (3-4 California Pacific Conference, 4-15) found themselves down 18-10 in the first set.
At that point, Church called a timeout to remind her team about what the team has constantly talked about.
"Fire is now our team word," Eileen said. "We've even written it on our shoes. That's what we want to represent for the rest of the year."
Properly reminded, Simpson won the next seven points. Though the Bruins (2-5 Cal-Pac, 3-17) went on win the set, the Red Hawks' passion carried over for the rest of the match.
"We knew we had to stay intense the whole way," Viss said.
Simpson pulled out the second set, winning six of the final eight points, then jumped out to a 14-9 lead in the third set. Bethany made a late run to close to within 20-18, but Brown had two straight kills as Simpson grabbed a 2-1 set lead.
Church chose to rotate her two setters, sophomore Erin Brink and freshman Jenny Hopkins of Yreka. Brink was in when the setter was in the back row, but the taller Hopkins set in the front row to provide a better block.
The decision worked out as well. Brink had 31 assists and Hopkins had 21 assists as well as two key kills late in the fifth set on high passes tapped over the net. The second one gave Simpson the lead for good at 11-10.
Teddy Sturley had 23 digs to lead Simpson, while Jackie Nixon had eight kills and Kelly Brown seven.
Reporter Jeffrey Jen can be reached at 225-8228 or jjen@redding.com
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