DANVILLE, Va. – Averett University women's volleyball concluded the week with a 3-1 home loss to Eastern Mennonite University on Saturday afternoon at the Grant Center.
At even odds through the opening 17 points, Eastern Mennonite (4-6, 1-2 ODAC) rode a six-point win streak to go up 14-9, before Averett (1-8, 1-3 ODAC) rebounded slightly with two of the next three points. The Royals won four of the following five after that to extend their lead back to seven; but the Cougars had other plans. Seven consecutive points from the home side knotted up the score at 19, but Eastern Mennonite took six out of the seven last points for the opening 25-20 set win.
The Royals' hot streak continued into the next stanza, with a 3-0 start, before Averett rallied with five points out of six to attain their first lead in the set 5-4. Seven straight points from the visitors later on had it up 12-6, before an 18-9 lead was amassed, with a trio of kills in that stretch. The visitors' advantage proved strong, as the Royals closed out the second, 25-16.
Both teams went back and forth in a critical third set, and were tied up at 13-13 midway. The Cougars turned on the gears in the back half of the action, as the team totaled a .294 kill percentage en route to the set win, and trailed by just a set.
The fourth followed a similar script to the previous stanza; points swung between each team consecutively, before a hot streak from the Royals led to a seven-point advantage, 16-9. Averett did its best to slow the momentum, winning three straight points to trail 20-14. The visitors then five straight points for the four-set closeout, and its first ODAC triumph of the season.
Identical to the previous evening, senior outside hitters
Sydney Mounce and
Tahani Villines both recorded a team-high nine kills each, as the latter also recorded 13 digs. Freshman setter
Hannah Batista led the Cougars in service aces with three, and junior middle hitter/right side
Emily Phillips hit .238 with eight kills on the afternoon.
Averett begins a four-match road trip against conference foes, with Roanoke College on the horizon on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Start time is set for 6:30 p.m.
