DANVILLE, Va. — To say the Averett University women's volleyball team had its back against the wall would be an understatement. The Cougars were down 23-21 in the third set, two points away from being swept by Ferrum College. And just as if someone turned on a light switch, the Cougars mounted a comeback for the ages on their way to a dominant finish to pull out a 3-2 win in conference play on Wednesday night in the Grant Center.
Averett (11-7, 6-2 ODAC) had looked flat for most of the evening after losing 25-22 and 25-23 in the first two sets to fall behind 2-0. However, the Cougars showed signs of life in Set 2 by coming back from an 18-10 deficit to get within one twice before eventually losing the set.
In the third set, Ferrum (5-11, 1-7 ODAC) inched ahead and led 22-18 before the Cougars scored four consecutive points to pull within 22-21. The Panthers, however, took the next point to get within two points of a three-set sweep. A Ferrum service error gave the Cougars life on the ensuing play, and Averett tied the game, 23-23, on a block by senior
Destiny McIntosh and freshman
Hope Parrish. Parrish then got a kill to give Averett set point, and freshman
Ari-anna Smith put home the next attack to help the Cougars escape with a 25-23 win and extend the match to a fourth frame.
From there, Averett looked like a different team. The Cougars rolled out to an 8-0 lead in Set 4, which grew to 16-3 moments later. Averett toppled Ferrum 25-9 to force a deciding fifth set.
Momentum remained with Averett in Set 5 as the Cougars raced to a 10-0 lead over Ferrum. The Panthers managed to string together five consecutive points to get within 14-9, but it was too late. McIntosh put down the kill off a pass set from sophomore
Dayton Moore to end the match and complete the Averett comeback.
The crazy finish wasn't the only notable thing for the Cougars. Senior
Erin Gray, who set the program record for career digs in the modern scoring era last weekend, broke the program single-match record with 47 digs on Wednesday. Gray surpassed the old mark of 45 shared by Ruth Miller and Melanie Stanley against Maryville College in 1991.
Senior
Emma Nash had a team-high 15 kills to go with 21 digs, while McIntosh totaled 12 kills and three blocks. Smith also totaled a career-best 11 kills, with freshman
Allie Wilkerson and Parrish chipping in nine kills apiece. Senior setter
Kinsley Stevens had 28 assists and 19 digs, Moore had 19 assists and 15 digs and Smith and Wilkerson each had four block assists.
The come-from-behind victory extended Averett's win streak to 20 in a row against Ferrum, which hasn't earned a win in the series since 2009.
Averett returns to action on Friday at Bridgewater College.
