DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University volleyball team sailed to a 3-1 victory over Mary Baldwin College on Tuesday night in a conference matchup at the Grant Center.

Averett (9-7, 2-0 USA South) defeated the Fighting Squirrels 25-14, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-13. The Cougars dominated the first set but allowed the Squirrels to creep back in the second set to send the match to four games. Junior Katlin Liggon drilled two service aces to help the Cougars gain a 5-0 run after trailing 21-16, but Mary Baldwin (2-13, 0-4 USA South) pulled out the two-point win.

The Cougars gained the advantage with a win in the third set and quickly knocked out Mary Baldwin in the fourth. With five straight points, Averett took an early 7-2 lead over the Squirrels with an ace from sophomore libero Christiana Summa and two kills from sophomore outside hitter Hannah Shields. Shields, an outside hitter who leads the team in kills, notched 12 of them as she played in three of the four sets, and freshman Jordan Pitzer added six for the Cougars as well.

Averett also stepped up on the opposite side of the ball. The team finished with nine blocks with sophomore Jessica Sheek as a force in the middle. She totaled three blocks for Averett as well as four kills while sophomore Sarah Smoot contributed two blocks. In the back row, Summa led the squad with eight digs, and senior Katelyn Holley put up seven.