MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Covenant volleyball team split a USA South tri-match on Saturday in Montgomery, falling to host Huntingdon, 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-20), before downing Agnes Scott in three sets (25-13, 25-19, 25-18).
The 1-1 day for Covenant puts the Scots at 12-12 on the year and 10-2 inside the USA South.
Against Huntingdon, the Scots had chances to win each set but ultimately fell to the now-USA South West Division leading Hawks. Riley Howe had a career-high 14 kills for Covenant, while Emily Moore had 16 assists and 12 digs. Hannah Harris added nine kills and nine digs with Hannah Stewart tallying 10 digs.
In the first set, Covenant seized a 21-18 lead after a kill from Josita Marshall. However, Huntingdon answered and scored the final seven points to take the set win and a 1-0 match lead. In the second set, Huntingdon totaled 19 digs and used a 5-0 run late in the set to pull away for the victory.
The Scots led early in the third set at 11-9 after a Howe ace, but again Huntingdon made a late push to take control of the match. The Hawks outscored Covenant 16-9 the rest of the way and a Kaitlyn Carter ace sealed the sweep for Huntingdon.
Huntingdon (19-9, 9-1 USA South) recorded 47 kills as a team and hit .248. Amy Tyma had 15 kills and 14 digs to lead the way, while April Reese registered 20 digs. Ashley Murphy and Carter had 22 assists apiece.
In the win over Agnes Scott, Howe had nine kills but it was Alexa Spurling's 11 kills that paced the Scots. Sophie Puertas tallied 22 assists and four digs. In the back row, Moore had 22 digs and Stewart had 11. Harris finished with six kills and 14 digs.
Covenant took advantage of Agnes Scott errors in the first set to cruise to a 25-13 victory. In the second, the Scots totaled 16 kills and got out to a 19-9 lead before holding off a late Scotties rally to take a 2-0 match lead.
The Scots had their highest hitting percentage of the match at .216 with 10 kills in the third set to complete the sweep. With the score tied at 10-10, Covenant rattled off a 7-1 run, aided by kills from Marshall, Allie Jakes, and Howe, to go ahead 17-11. Agnes Scott cut the lead to 20-17 later, but consecutive kills from Howe and Harris, followed by an ace from Howe completed the sweep.
Agnes Scott (4-20, 2-8 USA South) was led by Tiara White's 11 kills and 11 digs.
UP NEXT
Covenant will return home for a match with Berea on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
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