COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Sara Delk and Emma Kalbfleisch combined for 22 kills to lead the Covenant volleyball team to a season-opening, 3-1 (25-14, 25-19, 20-25, 25-12), win over Mississippi University for Women on Friday night in Columbus.

Delk finished with a match-high 12 kills to go along with four aces and eight digs in the victory. Kalbfleisch, making her Covenant debut, had 10 kills with four total blocks. Rachel Bartlett added 32 assists, nine digs, seven kills, and three total blocks in her collegiate debut.

Covenant (1-0) used a consistent attack throughout the match to claim the win. The Scots totaled 50 kills and hit at a .261 clip as a team, while MUW (0-4) was limited to 22 kills and a -.037 percentage.

The Scots took the first set in commanding fashion after tallying 13 kills in the stanza. Covenant used an 8-2 run to take a 13-7 lead in the set and scored the final five points to earn the 25-14 win and take a 1-0 match lead.

In the second, Covenant trailed 5-0 early on but chipped away at the margin before taking the lead for good on a Kalbfleisch kill that made it 9-8. That kill was part of a 10-0 spurt for Covenant as the Scots took control of the set and led by as many as seven on three occasions in the frame.

MUW kept the match alive with a third set win, but Covenant responded with its most efficient set in the fourth. The Scots totaled 15 kills in the fourth and hit .583 to cruise to a 25-12 win and the match victory.

Riley Howe contributed eight kills and hit .429. Savannah Savage led the back-line with 16 digs as the Scots held a 55-44 advantage in that category.

MUW was led by Ricki-Jill Burrough and Iyana Canada with six kills each. Madison Lamb had 14 assists and Lacey Evans totaled 10 digs.

UP NEXT

Covenant opens USA South play on Saturday, March 6 at Wesleyan. First serve is set for 2 p.m.

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