MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Averett University volleyball rallied from a first set loss to beat Piedmont College 3-1 in Friday's USA South Conference Tournament quarterfinals held at Patrick Henry Community College.

Averett (22-14) beat Piedmont (20-13) 23-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-15. The Cougars, the No. 2 seed in the North Division, will face Maryville College, the South's No. 1 seed, in Saturday's semifinals at 12 p.m. for the right to play for the championship.

Averett was slow out of the gate against Piedmont, the No. 3 seed from the South. The two teams battled through a tight first set. Down 21-20, Averett tied the match with a service error, then went ahead 23-21 on back-to-back kills by freshman Sarah Smoot. A Piedmont timeout halted the rally and the Lions won the next four points to storm back and steal the set.

"I thought we started off a little slow," said Averett coach Danny Miller, who noted that his team, with five freshmen in the starting lineup, may have had some jitters playing in their first conference tournament match. "We were tentative and trying not to make mistakes. Every mistake we made was magnified."

The second set was just as close at the start, but Averett slowly crept out to a 15-11 advantage. Leading 19-14, Averett found its rhythm and won the final seven points to knot the match at 1-1.

Piedmont led 9-6 in the third set before Averett rallied to go ahead 13-11. The Lions tied it several times before briefly taking a 16-15 lead. Once again, the Cougars got on a roll to win the next seven points and take control. Smoot finished the set off with consecutive kills to get Averett one step closer to reaching the next round.

"I got on them and told them to just play and accept what happens," Miller said. "All of a sudden we started playing more loose and we started tearing it up."

Averett jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set, helping the Cougars cruise past Piedmont and avenge a 3-2 loss to the Lions in the regular season.

Smoot finished with 17 kills, 10 digs and five service aces, while freshman Hannah Shields totaled 19 kills and 12 digs. Senior Nicole Barringer added 52 assists and 11 digs. Freshman Lynsey Corriher led Averett with 15 digs, while freshman Christiana Summa tallied 10 digs.

Now Averett turns its attention to Maryville, which edged them in the regular season in their only meeting.

"I think if we can play free, relax and let it go, we'll be fine," Miller said. "I think we can compete with them and it will be a battle."