FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Averett University women's volleyball played out a five-set thriller in its regular season finale at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon, and fell just short of a 2-0 comeback to fall in five sets.
Mary Washington (11-9) cruised through the opening two sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-12, but Averett (5-16) gave the match a fight in the later stages.
Starting with the middle period, the Eagles went up 7-4 early, but Averett slowly worked its way back into the set. Momentum began to generate for the visitors; as multiple players provided offensive contributions, the Cougars eventually tied the set at 16-16 with a kill from senior outside hitter
Sydney Mounce. Trading points back and forth, Averett found a slight edge with help from senior outsider
Tahani Villines to give the Cougars a 21-19 advantage.
Senior middle hitter
Allie Lane followed that with a service ace to push the lead to 22-19, before Mary Washington replied with three straight to knot the set at 22-all. The deadlock prolonged to 25-25, before the Eagles found a match point, just one point after. Two home errors then flipped to a set point in Averett's favor, where Mounce closed it out with a kill to remain alive.
The Cougars kept roaring in Fredericksburg into the fourth, and even held a 15-9 set lead off the heels of a Mounce kill and two consecutive aces from senior defensive specialist
Kyleigh Rains. Following an Eagles timeout, they proceeded to go on an 8-2 run and tied the set at 17-apiece. The two squads bounced points off of the other until the 20-20 mark, where a Mary Washington attack error was sandwiched in between kills from the senior duo of Villines and Mounce for a three-point advantage.
That was all the visitors needed, as kills from Mounce and sophomore setter/right side
Laney Beaver forced a deciding set. Averett hit a collective .344 with 16 kills in the period with only five errors.
Mary Washington took the early lead in the fifth period, and never relinquished its lead from then on, and used a run to lead 11-4 to force an Averett timeout. The Cougars rallied and reached the 10-point mark, but the Eagles secured the match late to seal matters.
Averett's sole player with 10 or more kills was Mounce, who hit .359 with 18 kills on the afternoon. Both Villines and freshman setter
Hannah Batista recorded 10 digs, and the latter had 20 assists.
Defensively, five different Cougars notched a solo block, with junior middle hitter/right side
Emily Phillips having three of her own.
The 2026 season ends for the women's volleyball team, finishing 5-16 with a 3-9 ledger in ODAC matches.
