DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University volleyball knocked off Methodist University 3-0 in the USA South Conference Tournament quarterfinals held Tuesday at the Grant Center. The Cougars, the top seed in the East Division, swept the East No. 5 seed Monarchs 25-23, 25-18 and 25-12 to advance to Friday's semifinals.

Averett (31-3), which will host the semifinals and championship, will play West Division No. 2 seed Maryville College on Friday at 6:30 p.m. West No. 1 Covenant College and East No. 2 William Peace University will face off in the other semifinal at 4 p.m.

The Cougars, who matched a program single-season record for overall wins (31), had their hands full in the opening set. Methodist (18-13), fresh off a 3-0 upset of East No. 4 seed Salem College an hour earlier, hung with Averett in the first frame. The Cougars led 20-15 but couldn't shake the Monarchs easily. Methodist used an 8-1 run to take a 23-21 advantage. Averett, however, responded with back-to-back kills by seniors Lynsey Corriher and Sarah Smoot to knot the score. A Methodist attacking error gave the Cougars set point, and Corriher finished it off with a kill as Averett escaped.

The beginning of the second set was just as tight. Averett held a 10-9 lead before winning six straight points. That cushion helped give the Cougars a little momentum as they finished off Methodist 25-18.

With the tide turned, Averett raced out to a 7-1 lead in the third set and Methodist never recovered. The Cougars sealed their seventh consecutive semifinal appearance with a 25-12 win in the third game.

Three Cougars finished with double-digit kills in a balanced effort. Corriher led the way with 13 kills, while senior Hannah Shields had 12 kills and sophomore Brianna Williams finished with 10. Junior Emily Stanley totaled 12 digs, with junior Keenan Marks tallying 24 assists and seven digs. Freshman McKenzie Miller added 15 assists and senior Christiana Summa had seven digs.

Averett ended the match with a .303 hitting percentage as a team.