The Simpson College women’s volleyball team opened the first round of the American Rivers Conference Tournament with a thrilling win against Wartburg College on Nov. 12 in Cowles Fieldhouse. 

Simpson College students were pumped for this game. However, they might have been too excited in the student section as the ref had to get Bryson Gibson, undergraduate assistant for the Storm, to clear them off the court and calm down. 

“The ref told me I needed to go talk to the student section, they were being rowdy and crowing the court, so I told them they needed to stay in the bleachers, but keep the same energy,” Gibson said. 

The Storm advanced to the second round after defeating the Knights 3-1. There were three key players in the Storm’s dominating win. 

Juniors Emily Williams and Jada Schmidt and senior Morgan DenBeste led the team to this victory. Williams had 16 kills, Schmidt had 11 kills and DenBeste had 36 assists.

This win marks the 19th of the season, which is the most wins for the Storm since 2009, when they tallied 21 victories. As they advance further into the tournament, they have a chance to match this number. 

Though the Storm was defeated during the regular season by the Knights, first-year head coach Dani Kohut Lynch rallied the team together to win the conference tournament match against Wartburg. Kohut Lynch said it was her first conference tournament win.

“It feels amazing. I am glad history did not repeat itself. I have not won the first round conference tournament ever,” Coach Kohut Lynch said. 

The women’s Volleyball team has struggled in the past, but since Kohut Lynch was hired this year, the program is taking off in the right direction. She said the team’s success comes from the effort of the girls and the coaching staff. 

“The girls have responded to everything we have been throwing at them. They play hard, rest hard, and do everything we ask of them,” she said. “Sometimes it’s been a challenge to buy into it, but you can see the hard work is paying off. Everyone is worthy on this team of having a jersey.” 

In the first set, the Storm initially led 24-23, but the Knights scored three points in a row, winning the set. However, the Storm did not lose hope.

The second set ended with a six-point victory for the Storm to tie the match at 1-1. In the third set, the Storm won 25-18, going into the fourth set with all of the momentum. 

The Storm finished with an 11-point win in the final set of the match for a near-flawless victory in the first round of the A-R-C Conference Tournament. 

“We have to stay hungry. They are a great team, and we know we can compete with great teams. They may be bigger, stronger, but so are we.”