WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Covenant volleyball team concluded its trip to Winston-Salem with a split of USA South foes Averett and Greensboro on Saturday on the campus of Salem College. The Lady Scots dropped a five-set thriller to Averett in the day's first match before bouncing back and defeating Greensboro in four sets.
Covenant goes to 6-8 overall and now sits at 3-1 in the USA South.
During the day, Ginny Moore eclipsed 1,000 career kills, becoming just the fifth player in program history since 2001 to achieve the feat. Moore is also just the third player since 2001 to record at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs during a career.
MATCH ONE: Averett 3, Covenant 2
Covenant took the first two sets, but Averett responded and rallied to take the final three sets to defeat the Lady Scots 3-2 (22-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-18, 18-16).
Ginny Moore totaled 15 kills and 19 digs to lead Covenant, while Jessica Seehorn added 12 kills and four assisted blocks. Schuyler Moore recorded 41 assists and 14 digs, Hannah Harris had eight kills, and Hannah Stewart led the defense with 28 digs. Morgan Opgenorth had six kills and eight total blocks (two solo and six assisted), while Emily Moore added 14 digs.
Covenant never trailed in the first set to take a 25-22 win. The Lady Scots had a match-high 14 kills in the frame and went on a 7-4 run to end the set after Averett had rallied to tie the score at 18 apiece. In the second set, Covenant pulled away with a 9-2 scoring spurt, including a kill and consecutive service aces from Stewart, to take a 2-0 match lead.
But Averett responded and would take the next two sets to force a fifth and deciding set. The fifth set saw a remarkable 13 ties and eight lead changes. Covenant was down 6-2 early on, but rattled off five straight points, capped by a combined block from Seehorn and Opgenorth, to take a 7-6 lead. The Lady Scots had serve for match point on two occasions, but Averett received kills from Keenan Marks and Hannah Shields to keep the match alive. Averett had match point at 16-15, but an Opgenorth kill tied the match again. The Cougars, however, would take the final two points to complete the comeback win.
Shields, the reigning USA South Player of the Year, recorded 35 kills on 88 total attempts to lead Averett (12-6, 4-0 USA South). Marks had 54 assists and 20 digs, while Emily Stanley had a match-high 33 digs.
MATCH TWO: Covenant 3, Greensboro 1
Covenant regrouped after the tough Averett loss to knock off Greensboro in four sets (25-20, 25-14, 22-25, 25-19) to finish the day 1-1.
The first three matches were back-and-forth affairs. Covenant took the first set that saw 10 ties and six lead changes, but the Lady Scots scored 10 of the final 15 points to earn the win. In the second set, Covenant pulled away midway through and ended the set with three consescutive kills from Allie Jakes, Opgenorth and Schuyler Moore.
After Greensboro kept the match alive with a third set win, Covenant grabbed a 7-2 lead early in the fourth set and never trailed to pick up the match victory.
Jakes had a season-high 12 kills to go along with three assisted blocks in the victory. Chloe Storm, Opgenorth and Schuyler Moore each had eight kills, with Moore also tallying 45 assists and 18 digs. Ginny Moore accumulated seven kills and 10 digs and Haley Taylor had nine kills and five digs. Stewart totaled 26 digs on the defensive side.
Emily Horn led Greensboro (8-6, 1-2 USA South) with 11 kills, while Darrian Bolt had 20 assists and Tori Belcher 27 digs.
UP NEXT
Covenant will travel to Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, Sept. 30 to take on USA South members Meredith (1 p.m.) and Ferrum (3 p.m.).
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