The Covenant volleyball team opened up USA South play with a come-from-behind, 3-2, victory at Maryville on Wednesday night inside Boydson Baird Gymnasium. The Scots won the first set 25-17, then fell 22-25 and 18-25 in sets two and three before rallying for 25-16 and 15-10 wins to collect the victory.
Covenant (3-8, 1-0 USA South) extends its conference regular season winning streak to 15 matches, setting a program record.
Hannah Harris led the Scots with 12 kills, while Alexa Spurling had nine kills and a hitting percentage of .368.
Harris added five total blocks and Spurling had three. Sophie Puertas tallied 35 assists, 14 digs, and three aces. Hannah Stewart came up with a match-high 28 digs and Emily Moore added 11.
Covenant got out to a fast start as the visiting Scots scored the first eight points in the opening set. Puertas had two aces during the stretch and Lindsey Stephens' kill made it 8-0. Maryville got within two later in the set, but Covenant would never trail and earned a 25-17 set win.
Maryville (2-5, 0-1 USA South) would take a 2-1 match lead with set victories in games two and three. The second set was back-and-forth as it saw 10 ties and six lead changes. However, Maryville scored the final three points to eke out a 25-22 win. In the third, Maryville kept Covenant at bay throughout and took a 25-18 win.
Covenant responded in the fourth as the Scots used a 10-1 run to go ahead 15-6. Stewart had two aces in the pivotal stretch for Covenant, while Harris had a pair of kills. Covenant extended the lead into double figures and sent the match into a fifth set.
In the decisive set, Covenant rallied back from an early deficit and led 8-7 at the switch. Maryville evened the score at 10-10, but the Scots answered with the biggest run of the night. Covenant scored the final five points, highlighted by kills from Harris and Spurling and capped by a Moore ace to win the match.
Stephens finished with seven kills for Covenant, while Riley Howe had six. Sara Delk added 10 digs and Allie Jakes totaled four kills and two blocks. Covenant had 12 aces as a team.
Maryville was led by Brianne Sidner's nine kills and Nadia St. Thomas' 20 assists. Meredith Bonee had a team-best 17 digs.
Covenant will host a USA South tri-match on Saturday inside Barnes PE Center. The Scots take on LaGrange at 12 p.m., followed by Piedmont at 4 p.m.