DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University volleyball put an exclamation point on its regular season as the Cougars picked up a pair of wins on Senior Day to help them finish 16-0 in USA South Conference play entering next week's tournament. The Cougars defeated N.C. Wesleyan 3-0 to get to 16 league wins, then finished off the night with a 3-0 win over Pfeiffer University in the regular season finale.

Averett (30-3, 16-0 USA South) will be the top seed in the East Division and host the first round of the tournament on Tuesday. The East Division's No. 4 and No. 5 seeds will face off Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Grant Center, and the Cougars will play the winner immediately after at 7:30 p.m. in the USA South quarterfinals.

Although the Cougars clinched their third consecutive division crown last week, Averett looked to finish the regular season on a strong note Friday. Against conference foe N.C. Wesleyan (9-19, 4-12 USA South), the Cougars rolled 25-13, 25-18, 25-17. Senior Hannah Shields led the attack with 12 kills and junior Emily Stanley had a team-high 18 digs. Junior Keenan Marks and freshman McKenzie Miller finished with 15 assists and 13 assists, respectively. Sophomore Brianna Williams added seven kills and two blocks, senior Sarah Smoot had six kills and sophomore Madison Dadez had three blocks against the Battling Bishops.

With a perfect conference regular season slate secure, the Cougars honored their seven seniors —Shields, Smoot, Lynsey Corriher, Jordyn Minton, Hayden Rigsbee, Lexi Rosenbaum and Christiana Summa — prior to the nightcap against conference newcomer Pfeiffer. Although the Falcons joined the USA South this year, they are currently transitioning to Division III from Division II and don't count as a conference match.

After a slow start, Averett cruised past Pfeiffer (3-21) in three sets — 25-18, 25-14, 25-12. Shields had a team-high 11 kills and eight digs, while Smoot added nine kills and Williams finished with eight kills. Stanley finished with a team-best 12 digs, Marks had 20 assists and Miller had 19 assists.

The 30 overall wins puts the Cougars one shy of the program record of 31 set in 2001, when the Cougars finished 31-11. The 16-0 regular season is the seventh time overall and second consecutive time Averett has gone undefeated in conference play during the regular season. The Cougars currently have a 41-match winning streak during the regular season in conference play.