DANVILLE, Va. - Averett University men's volleyball opened it's inaugural home match in a hard fought loss to Warren Wilson College on Thursday night 3-2.
Warren Wilson (1-0) jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first set and maintained control of the entirety of the opening set, taking set 1 25-17. Averett (0-3) stormed back in the second set, opening up on a 7-3 run to help propel the Cougars to a 25-22 set 2 victory. Averett took a 2-1 set advantage in the third set, winning 25-20.
The Cougars found themselves down 20-12Â in the fourth set with before erupting for a 10-3 run before the Averett had match point two times before ultimately falling 28-26. In the fifth set, each team exchanged leads, with Warren Wilson earning the change over point to lead 8-7. Back-to-back kills by sophomore transfer
Jordan Tyler helped the Cougars get within one 12-11 before the Owls scored three consecutive points to earn the program's first victory 15-12.
Tyler led Averett's offense with 19 kills while freshman
Finn Oakley had 13 kills. Freshman
Noah Kaneshiro-Pate had 32 kills in the outing while seniors
Daniel Cancro and
Philipp Bohnenkamp each had 15 digs. Freshman
Dominick Jenkins had a team-high three blocks.
"We could not have asked for a better crowd for our very first home men's volleyball game," said
Olivia Earls, head men's and women's volleyball coach. "The crowds energy and buy-in to our sport helped propel the guys forward in key moments. I am happy to see the progress our group has made since our first matchup at EMU on the 13th and am excited to see how they continue to grow as a group."
Averett is back in action on February 3 when it hosts Southern Virginia and Virginia Wesleyan in a tri-match starting at 11 a.m.
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