- The No. 3 seeded Covenant volleyball team fell to No. 1 seed Maryville in three sets (25-21, 25-17, 25-22) in the USA South West Championship on Saturday afternoon inside Boydson Baird Gymnasium.
Covenant ends the season with a 10-9 overall record. Maryville (16-1), which won 16 straight matches to end the year, claims the West Division title.
Emma Kalbfleisch had 11 kills and six total blocks in the loss for Covenant. Rachel Bartlett had 26 assists, 13 digs, and three blocks while Leah Buys and Anna Baldwin also had 13 digs apiece.
Covenant was right with the No.
1 West seed Maryville Scots from the start. A kill from Alexa Spurling tied the first set at 20-20 before Maryville scored three straight and took the opening set with a Brooklyn Wallet ace.
The turning point of the match came in the second set. Covenant raced out to a 12-3 lead as Kalbfleisch had four kills and three blocks during the stretch. However, Maryville rallied with a 9-0 run and then scored the final eight points to take a 25-17 set win and a 2-0 match lead.
Covenant put together its own rally in the third but ultimately came up short. The Scots trailed 22-13 but got within 24-22 after Reagan Keener tallied three straight kills before two Maryville errors. Out of a timeout, Maryville got a kill from Rhianna Tyldesley to seal the win and the championship.
Keener finished with four kills for Covenant and Summer Johnson also tallied four.
Tyldesley had a match-high 13 kills for Maryville, while Maggie Mathews added 11 and 23 digs. Meredith Bonee recorded 39 assists and Natalie Watts had 22 digs.
The 10-9 overall record for Covenant marks the 10th time in the last 11 seasons that the Scots have finished the season with a winning record.