MISENHEIMER, N.C. — Averett University women's volleyball picked up a pair of non-conference wins by beating North Carolina Wesleyan University 3-1 and coming back to beat host Pfeiffer University 3-2 in Saturday's tri-match hosted by Pfeiffer.
Averett (7-10) finished off the day with a thrilling five-set win over Pfeiffer (3-10). After splitting the first two sets, Pfeiffer jumped ahead with a dominant 25-16 win in Set 3. Averett didn't flinch as the Cougars held off the Falcons 25-22 in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set. In that final frame, Averett used a four-point run to break an 8-8 tie as the Cougars finished off Pfeiffer with a 15-10 victory to seal the match.
Sophomores
Hope Parrish and
Sydney Mounce paced Averett with 11 kills each, while three others finished with eight kills. Fifth-year libero
Erin Gray recorded 37 of Averett's 80 digs, junior
Dayton Moore had 18 assists and senior
Kinsley Stevens had 12 assists for the Cougars.
In their first match of the day, Averett put away former conference foe N.C. Wesleyan (2-10) in four sets by scores of 25-19, 26-24, 22-25 and 25-16. After taking the opening set, the Cougars found themselves with their backs against the wall in Set 2. Averett trailed 23-18 before mounting a comeback. The Cougars scored four consecutive points to get within 23-22. The Bishops got the next kill to give them set point, but that didn't deter Averett. The Cougars scored the next four points to complete the rally. That second set win proved to be crucial. Despite a 6-0 start in Set 3, Averett's advantage slipped away and N.C. Wesleyan won, forcing a fourth frame. However, Averett easily took that one with the help of a 7-1 start with several other scoring runs throughout as the Cougars earned the win.
Freshman
Emily McIntosh led the way with 11 kills, while graduate student
Emma Nash finished nine kills and three total blocks. Fifth-year senior
Destiny McIntosh also chipped in eight kills for the Cougars, who to 13 digs apiece from Gray, sophomore
Rachel Green and Moore. Moore also had a team-high 17 assists. Junior
Brenda Light added 13 assists and nine digs against N.C. Wesleyan, which won 3-2 over Pfeiffer in the first match of the day.
Averett hosts Old Dominion Athletic Conference foe Shenandoah University on Friday at 7 p.m.
