DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University women's volleyball opened the season with a pair of tough losses on Day 1 of the 30th annual Cougar Classic hosted Friday in the E. Stuart James Grant Center. The Cougars fell 3-2 to Meredith College in a five-set marathon, then had their comeback attempt fall short in a 3-1 loss to Salem College to end the night.
In the opener against Meredith (1-1), Averett (0-2) came out fired up to take the first two sets. The Cougars edged Meredith 25-23 in the first set before dominating 25-16 in Set 2 to go up 2-0. However, Averett couldn't put away the Avenging Angels in the third as Meredith snuck out a 25-21 win to stay alive. The Avenging Angels squeaked out another tight one, 26-24, in Set 4 to force a deciding fifth set. Meredith prevailed 15-8 after jumping out to a sizeable lead several points in to shock the Cougars in their season-opening match.
Graduate student
Emma Nash led Averett with a team-high 16 kills against Meredith while also adding 11 digs. Fifth-year libero
Erin Gray had a match-high 27 digs with junior
Dayton Moore adding 23 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore
Allie Wilkerson accounted for five block assists defensively at the net.
Averett took on Salem (1-1) in the nightcap. The Spirts topped the Cougars 25-22 and 25-17 to take a 2-0 lead in the matchup. Averett bounced back to win Set 3 25-19 and was poised to take it to five before Salem held the Cougars off 25-21 in four.
Nash and senior
Julianna Erickson totaled 13 kills and 11 kills, respectively. Nash also finished with 17 digs, while Moore had 17 digs and 25 assists, Gray chipped in a team-best 27 digs and sophomore Ella Jabeley notched 13 digs.
Averett takes on Bob Jones University and Methodist University on Saturday in Day 2 of the Cougar Classic. The Cougars play at noon and 4 p.m.
