Coming off a tough loss on Friday night, the Covenant volleyball team responded in a big way by claiming a 3-1 (25-14, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19) victory over Howard Payne in Saturday's opener at the Emory Classic in Atlanta. The Lady Scots then dropped a five-set decision (20-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 15-13) to Chapman to wrap up the day.
The split puts Covenant at 3-4 overall on the year.
MATCH ONE: Covenant 3, Howard Payne 1
Covenant (3-3) powered its way to wins in the first two sets and would answer a Howard Payne comeback attempt with a strong fourth set to pick up the victory.
Ginny Moore had a team-best 13 kills to go along with 16 digs, while Schuyler Moore totaled 36 assists and 18 digs. Olivia Becker had eight kills and Lindsey Stephens and Allie Jakes had seven apiece. Covenant accumulated 44 kills and a .143 hitting percentage as a team.
Defensively, Hannah Stewart matched Schuyler Moore with 18 digs while Emily Moore and Jessica Seehorn had 11 digs each.
The Lady Scots hit .333 in the opening set and never trailed in the frame to go ahead 1-0 in the match. Consecutive kills from Ginny Moore and Stephens opened up an 8-3 lead and that would grow to 21-11 later in the set after a Chloe Storm kill before a Howard Payne error ended the set giving Covenant the win.
It was tight throughout the second set until Covenant went on a 9-2 run, capped by a Storm ace, to take a 21-15 lead. The Lady Scots tallied a match-high 15 kills in the set and used those to gain a 2-0 match lead.
Howard Payne fought back in the third and was able to keep the match alive into the fourth. In the fourth, the Lady Scots held Howard Payne to a negative hitting percentage (-.026) and would never trail to secure the victory. Schuyler Moore had back-to-back aces early in the frame as Covenant scored the first four points. Kills from Schuyler Moore and Seehorn gave the Lady Scots the 25-19 win.
Zhartezia Bradley had 11 kills for Howard Payne (2-5) and Kailey Doering had 10. Cheyenne Lovelady tallied 32 assists and 19 digs, while Jordan Livingston had a match-high 32 digs.
MATCH TWO: Chapman 3, Covenant 2
Covenant and Chapman went back-and-forth throughout the match, but a key run late in the fifth set was enough to propel Chapman to a five-set victory in Saturday's finale.
Storm and Ginny Moore had 11 kills apiece, while Becker had 10. Covenant tallied 54 kills as a team and hit at a .150 clip. Schuyler Moore added 38 assists and 15 digs, while Ginny Moore had 32 digs and Stewart had 17. Jakes totaled 14 blocks, with 10 assisted and four solo, to go with four kills. The 10 assisted blocks for Jakes sets a five-set program record and her 14 total blocks is third-most in a single match.
Covenant won the first set 25-20 after collecting 14 kills and a .262 hitting percentage in the frame. The Lady Scots broke a 20-20 tie and scored the final five points in the set, highlighted by consecutive kills from Jakes and Ginny Moore to get the set win. But Chapman responded in the second and tied the match with a 25-20 win.
In the third, Covenant regained the match lead at 2-1 after tallying 15 kills for a 25-19 victory. Up 21-18, the Lady Scots put away Chapman with four of the final five points, including a pair of assisted blocks from Jakes along with Becker and Ginny Moore. Chapman would rebound again with a 25-22 set four win to tie the match again.
In the fifth, Covenant took an 11-7 lead after Hannah Harris and Jakes combined for a block. Chapman once again had an answer as it went on a 5-0 run to take a 12-11 lead. Covenant would cut the margin to 14-13 on a Ginny Moore kill, but a powerful kill from Chapman's Kylie Cooke ended the match.
Cook had 14 kills to lead Chapman (5-3) and Abby Smith added 10. Jessica Blum had 33 assists and Lindsey Johnson totaled 25 digs.
Covenant will travel to Sewanee on Sept. 13. Match time is set for 7 p.m. EDT.