DANVILLE, Va.— The Averett University volleyball team (17-2, 6-0) hosted a USA South tri-match on Saturday and came out victorious as they defeated both Salem College (12-6, 4-2) and Meredith College (6-9, 4-1) in four sets. The Cougars extended their win streak to 10 games and stayed undefeated in conference action.

After dropping the first set to Meredith 25-17, the Cougars rattled off three consecutive set victories (25-18, 25-13, 25-21) to put away Meredith. The Avenging Angels jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set that would give them control of the set and pace them to the victory in the first frame. Averett snatched all control of the second set as they bounced back in set two by maintaining the lead throughout the entire frame.

The Cougars carried this momentum into set three where they built an early 10-5 lead. Meredith, however, went on a 5-0 run to knot things up at 10. An attack error by the Avenging Angels put Averett ahead for good as they finished the set on a 15-3 run to take the 2-1 lead in the match. The navy and gold held Meredith at bay throughout most of the final set until the Avenging Angels cut the Cougar lead to 23-21. A kill by senior Hannah Shields and a Meredith attack error propelled the Cougars to the 3-1 victory.

Junior Keenan Marks led the team in assists with 24 while Shields and sophomore Brianna Williams finished with 20 and 10 kills respectively.
As in Averett's first match of the day against Meredith, the Cougars vanquished Salem in four sets (25-19, 25-13, 22-25, 25-13). In the first set against Salem, the Cougars opened up an early 9-3 lead. From this point on, the Spirits could only cut the deficit down to four with Averett leading 21-17. A kill from senior Sarah Smoot increased the Cougar lead back to five and helped push Averett to victory in set one. With the score tied at four in the second set, Averett went on a 9-1 run to build a 13-5 edge. After this the Cougars broke things open by pushing their lead to as large as 12, which is where it would stand at the end of the frame with the Cougars defeating the Spirits, 25-13.

Averett stayed on the attack to open up the third set which helped them attain a 14-11 advantage. However, Salem went on a 4-0 run to give them their first lead of the match at 15-14. Both sides traded points back and forth until with Salem leading 23-22, a kill from Taylor Moulton and a Cougar attack error gave the Spirits the win in set three.

Averett responded quickly at the outset of set four by racing out to a 14-7 lead which forced a timeout from Salem head coach Kevin Troup. Out of the break in action, the Cougars could not be stopped as they extended their lead to as large as 13 on their way to a 25-13 win in set four.

Shields completed the second match of the day with 15 kills and 19 digs while Smoot finished with 13 kills. Defensively, junior Emily Stanley recorded 19 digs and Williams registered seven blocks.

The Cougars return to the court on Thursday, Oct. 5, when they travel to take on Greensboro College in conference play. First serve is set for 7 p.m.