DANVILLE, Va. — Senior libero
Erin Gray broke the program's career digs record on Senior Day, but Averett University women's volleyball fell 3-0 to Virginia Wesleyan University and lost 3-1 to Christopher Newport University on Saturday in the Grant Center.
Gray surpassed Hall of Famer Paige Aaron's mark of 1,771 digs in the modern 25-point scoring era late in the second set against CNU (10-5) as Averett (10-7, 5-2 ODAC) took Set 2 from the Captains 26-24, tying the match at 1-1. Averett was trailing 21-17 in that frame before making a run to tie it, 21-21. Both teams had set point, but the Cougars battled back to win the final three points to take a set from the Captains, who are receiving votes in the latest AVCA national poll.
Averett used the momentum from the Set 2 win to jump out to a 4-0 lead. The two former conference foes remained in a tight battle before a five-point swing gave CNU a 19-13 lead. The Captains pulled it out 25-20 to go up 2-1. CNU got off to strong start in Set 4 before pulling away to a clinching 25-15 win.
Gray finished with 27 digs against CNU, while senior
Emma Nash had 12 kills and sophomore
Dayton Moore had a team-high 17 assists.
Prior to the match with CNU, Averett honored its senior class of Gray, Nash,
Destiny McIntosh and junior
Kinsley Stevens, who is scheduled to graduate in three years.
Earlier in the day, Averett hosted Old Dominion Athletic Conference foe Virginia Wesleyan. The Marlins won 25-21, 25-18, 25-16. In the opening set, Averett held a 21-18 lead over Virginia Wesleyan (16-2, 6-0 ODAC) before the Marlins went on a 7-0 run to take the first set 25-21.Using their opening set momentum Virginia Wesleyan took set 2 25-18 and set 3 25-16.
Sophomore
Rachel Green had a team-high six kills with a .500 hitting percentage. Freshman
Allie Wilkerson and Nash had five kills each. Gray had a team-high 16 digs and Stevens had a double-double with 12 assists and 15 digs. Moore has 11 assists in the match..
Averett hosts Ferrum College on Wednesday.
