LAGRANGE, Ga. -- The Covenant volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday in the Mariotti Gym on the campus of LaGrange College.
The Scots opened up the day with a 3-1 (26-24, 16-25, 30-28, 25-21) over LaGrange before falling to Huntingdon 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13) to wrap up.
Covenant is now 4-12 on the season and 3-2 in USA South contests. LaGrange fell to 3-14 and 1-2 in conference play after the match while Huntingdon improved to 13-10 and 4-0 in the USA South.
MATCH ONE: Covenant 3, LaGrange 1 (26-24, 16-25, 30-28, 25-21)
The Scots saw three different athletes record seven kills in Meriel Chupp, Alexa Spurling, and Riley Howe to pace the offense. Sara Delk and Allie Jakes chipped in with six each while Leah Buys posted 33 assists in the contest.
Emily Moore dug 22 attacks while Delk passed 14 digs and Buys had 12 to lead the way on defense.
It was a back and forth first set until Covenant was able to run off six straight points out of a timeout and take a 15-12 lead. LaGrange was eventually able to even things at 24 before a Howe kill and a Moore ace allowed the Scots to take the set 26-24.
Set number two was the Panthers most efficient set of the contest posting 13 kills on 27 attacks for a .216 clip en route to a 25-16 victory.
Set three went back-and-forth until Covenant was once again able to claim the final two points. It was tied at 24 when the Scots took advantage of an attacking error to take a one-point lead. LaGrange answered with a kill to knot things at 25 and the two teams were even until a Chupp kill made the score 29-28. The Covenant defense then came up huge as Lindsey Stephens and Jakes came up with a block to win the set 30-28.
In the fourth set, the Panthers came out firing taking a 5-1 before the Scots answered with a four-point spurt of their own to even things at five. LaGrange then stretched out a lead to seven at 15-8. The Scots then used an 8-3 run to take the set 25-21 and win the match.
LaGrange was paced by Leigha Reynolds with 13 kills in the contest while Kirsten Boyd had 40 assists. Samantha James posted 20 digs while Bailey Moss was the next highest for the Panthers with 19.
MATCH TWO: Huntingdon 3, Covenant 2 (20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13)
Two different Scots were able to record double-doubles as they fell to Huntingdon in five.
Delk posted 12 kills and 16 digs while Howe had 11 kills and 13 digs in the contest.
Jakes led the Scots with 16 kills while Buys recorded 46 assists and Moore led the way with 18 digs.
Covenant used an effective first set with only two attacking errors with 12 kills on 37 swings for a .270 attacking percentage to take set one 25-20.
Huntingdon answered with their most efficient hitting of the day with 15 kills on 28 attacks for a .357 clip and win the second set 25-20.
The Hawks took set three 25-21 taking six out of the final eight points for a 2-1 match lead.
Set four saw the Scots have their best hitting on the day with a .278 attacking percentage. Covenant posted 17 kills on 36 attacks. The Hawks had a 12-10 lead before the Scots posted five straight points for a 15-12 lead that they were able to stretch and hold on to force a fifth set 25-20.
Covenant jumped out to a 5-1 lead and had an 8-3 advantage at the switch. The Hawks then went on an 8-1 run and it was just enough of a lead to win the fifth set 15-13 and take the match 3-2.
April Reese and Amy Tyma had 18 kills each to lead the Hawk offense while Ashley Murphy posted 31 assists. Tyma wrapped up a double-double with a team-leading 23 digs.
UP NEXT
Covenant travels to Demorest, Ga. to take on Piedmont and Brevard in a quad match on Oct.12. The Scots open up with the Lions a 10 a.m. before taking on the Tornados at 2 p.m.
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