Box Score

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Averett volleyball defeated Methodist University 3-1 in the USA South Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Friday evening at Stone Hall on the campus of Patrick Henry Community College. Averett, the No. 1 seed out of the North Division, topped Methodist, the North's No. 4 seed, by scores of 25-14, 25-22, 25-27 and 25-16.

Averett (26-8) will face Piedmont College, the No. 2 seed out of the South Division, at 2 p.m. on Saturday for a spot in Saturday evening's championship game.

In Friday's first round, Methodist (14-18) jumped out to an early 7-2 lead before Averett rebounded with four straight points making it 7-6. Both teams traded points back and forth from that point, before Averett used an eight-point run to make the score 21-12, and went on to win the opening set 25-14.
 
In the second game of the match, neither team could get an edge in the game until Averett used a 8-3 run taking a five-point lead at 21-16. Methodist responded back with a four-point run of its own making the score 22-20. Averett went on to win the game by a score of 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead going into the third game of the match.
 
In the third set, Methodist responded back after dropping Game 2 by an early 9-6 lead following a four-point push. The Monarchs were able to hold on to the slight advantage until the Cougars used a four-point rally of their own to knot the score at 15-15. Methodist continued to fight hard following the Averett run pushing the lead to 22-19. The Monarchs had game point at 24-22 before the Cougars came back to tie the score at 24-24, but the Monarchs held on to win 27-25 taking the match to a 2-1 score.
 
In the fourth set, Averett jumped out to an early 6-3 lead before pushing the lead to four at 11-7. Following a Methodist  timeout, the Cougars went on a four-point run to extend their lead to 19-12. Despite the Monarchs' effort, Averett held on to win the game 25-16 and match 3-1 to advance to Saturday's semifinals
 
Averett, the North Division champions, were led by senior Sarah Sparks, who contributed 21 kills, while USA South Player of the Year Allison Sparks added 20 kills in the match. Junior Nicole Barringer passed for a match-high 46 assists for the Cougars. Sophomore Katelyn Holley had a team-best 17 digs.

The Monarchs were led in the match by Allison Graves with 10 kills, while Risa Smith passed for a team high 24 assists.