The Covenant volleyball team will claim at least a share of a USA South regular season championship after the Lady Scots swept Maryville 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-13) on Tuesday night at Boydson Baird Gymansium in USA South play.
The victory gives Covenant (15-11, 10-2 USA South) at least a share of the USA South West Division title as the Lady Scots hold a three-match lead, and the tiebreaker, over second-place Maryville (13-14, 7-5 USA South) with three conference matches left. Covenant will have the No.
1 seed out of the West in the USA South Tournament, which begins on Nov. 1, and will host a quarterfinal round match.
Covenant will claim the outright division title with one more USA South victory against either Piedmont, Agnes Scott or Wesleyan.
Ginny Moore, the reigning USA South Player of the Week, led the Covenant attack with 13 kills and 14 digs for her 14th double-double of the year. Schuyler Moore added 32 assists, five kills and eight digs, while Hannah Harris had eight kills and three total blocks. Jessica Seehorn contributed seven kills and 13 digs with Morgan Opgenorth going for six kills and two block assists. Hannah Stewart led all players with 18 digs.
Covenant held a significant 43-24 edge in total kills and limited Maryville to an .016 hitting percentage on the night.
Covenant got out to a fast start by taking a 9-4 lead in the opening set after a kill from Opgenorth. The lead grew to 16-7 after an Opgenorth ace, but Maryville would cut the lead to 16-13 with six straight points. Covenant would not let Maryville any closer in the frame and ended the set with consecutive kills from Opgenorth andGinny Moore to take the win.
In the second, it was another tremendous start for Covenant as the Lady Scot bolted to a 9-2 lead before Maryville rallied. With the set tied at 20, Covenant regained the lead with a Maryville attack error followed by a combined block from Seehorn and Opgenorth and would go on to win 25-22.
The same pattern held true in the third set as Covenant once again got out to a 9-2 lead after an Allie Jakes kill. This time, Covenant kept building the lead and led by as many as 13 at 22-9 after another Opgenorth kill. Covenant hit .308 in the set with 17 kills.
Abrianna Jones had seven kills for Maryville, while Saidee McDaniel tallied 16 assists and 11 digs. Kaitlyn Flickinger led the Maryville defense with 15 digs.
UP NEXT
Covenant will travel to Demorest, Ga., on Saturday for a tri-match. The Lady Scots face host Piedmont in a USA South matchup at noon, followed by a non-conference tilt with Huntingdon at 2 p.m.