Hosting their first tri-match of the season, the Covenant volleyball team cruised to a win in the first match, then had to make a furious rally to win the second match. Covenant ousted Wesleyan 3-0 (25-9, 25-7, 25-8) before rallying from a 2-1 deficit to knock off Asbury 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 15-13).
In the first match, Covenant dominated its GSAC foe Wesleyan. Jessica Chittenden had 11 kills with Cora Schroeder and Chelsea Van Dyk getting seven apiece. Estes Carlson led the Lady Scots with 14 digs and Stephanie Kirkpatrick added 27 assists.
The second match was a much different story than the first. Asbury took the first set as they scored five of the final seven points to break a 20-20 tie. Covenant responded to win the second set as they led almost end to end in the game. But Asbury answered back with a third set victory to take control of the match.
The Lady Scots would not go away, however. With the score knotted at 21 late in the fourth set, four kills combined from Van Dyk and Kirkpatrick gave the Lady Scots the game win and sent the match into a fifth set.
In that fifth set, Covenant took an early 7-3 lead thanks to a pair of Van Dyk kills. Asbury scored seven straight to take a 12-9 lead, but Covenant would score six straight with a kill each from Kirkpatrick and Schroeder coupled with Asbury errors. An attack error on Asbury gave Covenant the set and the match win, capping the rally.
Van Dyk tallied 25 kills, with Chittenden and Schroeder accumulating 12 and 10 respectively. Kirkpatrick recorded 48 assists. Defensively, it was Carlson with 36 digs to lead the Lady Scots. Paige Cheney added 19 digs, with Hannah Rogers and Schroeder each getting 13.
Covenant (16-4, 7-0 GSAC) returns to action on Ocotber 9 when they host Piedmont College at Barnes PE Center. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.