BUENA VISTA, Va. — Averett University volleyball's USA South Conference Tournament run ended with a 3-0 loss to East Division No. 1 seed Southern Virginia University on Tuesday night.
As the No. 4 seed in the East Division, Averett (24-8) beating East No. 5 seed Pfeiffer University (19-13) 3-0 earlier in the evening to advance to the quarterfinals matchup against Southern Virginia. The Cougars won their first round matchup 25-13, 25-21 and 25-19.
Averett's win over Pfeiffer set up the quarterfinals meeting with Southern Virginia (26-4) immediately after on the Knights' home court. The Cougars were right there with the Knights in the first two sets, but each time Southern Virginia finished each frame strong for 25-21 wins in each game. Up 2-0, Southern Virginia caught fire and pulled away midway through the third set for a 15-15 win to seal the victory and help the Knights advance to Friday's semifinals while eliminating Averett.
The loss not only ended Averett's season, it ended the Cougars' long history as successful members of the USA South. Averett will begin play in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference next fall. The Cougars finish with a combined 19 conference championships and numbers individual honors as a member of the USA South.
After hitting .304 against Pfeiffer earlier in the evening, Averett couldn't find similar success against Southern Virginia. Still, the Cougars found themselves in a tight battle with the Knights. In the opening set, Southern Virginia led 14-9, but Averett rebounded to take an 18-17 advantage. Southern Virginia, however, finished on a high note by winning eight of the final 11 points to go ahead 1-0. The Knights again built a 14-8 lead only to have Averett fight back to get in front 17-16 moments later. The second set was tied 20-20 before Southern Virginia won five of the final six points.
The third set was just as close midway through, with Averett trailing 14-13. However, Southern Virginia put together an eight-point run to swing momentum in its favor for good.
Seniors
Sarah Shropshire and
Zamyiah Mangum and juniors
Morgan Barnes and
Lauren Montren each had six kills for Averett. Montren tallied a team-high 16 digs with sophomore
Erin Gray finishing with 13 digs. Freshman
Kinsley Stevens and sophomore
Makkenzie Compton had 14 assists and 12 assists, respectively, from the setter position against Southern Virginia.
In the first round match against Pfeiffer, Shropshire led the Cougars with 13 kills and Montren had 13 digs. Sophomores
Emma Nash and
Sarah Marlowe each contributed seven kills and Gray had 12 digs. Stevens had a team-high 20 assists to go with seven digs.
