DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University volleyball lost 3-1 to Maryville College in a tightly contested USA South Conference Tournament championship match hosted Saturday at the Grant Center.

Maryville (27-6), the top seed in the West Division, overcame a 26-24 loss in the first set to Averett (19-16) to win the next three sets 25-23, 25-22 and 27-25 to win the USA South Tournament title and clinch an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Averett, East Division regular season champion, opened the championship match with a 4-0 lead. In what turned out to be a preview of how close of a match it turned out to be through all four sets, Averett inched ahead late for a 26-24 win in Set 1.

Maryville began to pull away late in Set 2 as the Scots broke a 20-20 tie with three consecutive points. Averett got back within 24-23 before Meredith Bonee's kill helped the Scots tie the match, 1-1.
The Scots played well early in Set 3, building a 15-11 lead. Yet, Averett answered with a four-point run to tie it, 15-15. The Cougars then jumped in front 21-17 with the help of two kills each from senior Madison Dadez and freshman Lauren Montren. Maryville rallied back to win eight of the next nine points to stun Averett and take a 2-1 lead.

Undeterred, Averett responded to the third-set loss by opening Set 4 with an 8-3 lead. Maryville slowly chipped away before tying it at 14-14. Neither team had more than a one-point lead until Averett went up 24-22 on sophomore Sarah Shropshire's kill. Once again, however, Maryville had an answer. Trailing 25-24 with set point on the line, the Scots got a kill and two consecutive service aces to end it and clinch the tournament title.

Maryville's Brianne Sidner earned Tournament MVP honors after getting 18 kills and 11 digs. She was joined on the USA South All-Tournament Team by teammates Maggie Mathews and Bonee, along with Averett junior McKenzie Miller, Montren and freshman Morgan Barnes. Huntingdon College's Amy Tyma also earned a spot on the all-tournament team.

Miller finished the championship with 29 assists, 13 digs and five kills. Barnes, who also had a stellar tournament, had a team-high 14 kills against the Scots while Montren totaled eight kills and 17 digs. Junior Myka Patterson led the Cougars with 18 digs, sophomore Zamyiah Mangum had 17 digs and freshman Meg Hopkins had 11 digs and a team-high five service aces. Dadez finished her career with a nine-kill effort.

Despite the loss in the championship, Averett finished the year on a strong note. After opening 3-9 with one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the region, the Cougars went 16-6 over the next 22 matches entering Saturday's title matchup. Individually, Montren was named the USA South Rookie of the Year as Dadez, Montren, Miller and Shropshire all earned all-conference accolades.