Averett drops two on opening day of volleyball tourney

Averett battled back from a 2-0 deficit, but Greensboro held off the Cougars in the final set for a 3-2 non-conference victory to wrap up the first day of the Averett Invitational on Friday. Greensboro won 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 15-25, 15-8, which gave the Cougars their second loss of the day.

Averett (16-6) also fell to Washington & Lee 3-1 earlier in the evening. The Generals won by scores of 25-13, 24-26, 25-20, 28-26.

Against Greensboro, the Cougars fell in a 2-0 hole. After pulling out the third set with a shuffled lineup, Averett coach Danny Miller continued to use the same combination of players in the fourth set. It paid off, as Averett dominated for a 25-15 win that forced the deciding fifth set. However, the momentum wore off and Greensboro eventually pulled away to seal the match, which counts as a non-conference game for both teams.

Averett defeated Greensboro in both of their previous meetings which counted toward the USA South Conference standings.

Freshman Hillary Metheny and junior Shannon Andy led Averett with 11 kills and nine kills each. Sophomore Carina Winstead, who came in midway through the match, had 28 assists. Senior Marie Keatts led the team with 18 digs, and freshman Brooke Hensley added 13 digs.

In its match against Washington & Lee, Averett got a team-high 12 kills from senior Jordan Maupin, who also had 11 digs. Andy added 11 kills. Keatts led the Cougars with 28 digs and sophomore Jesse Jones had 38 assists.

Averett returns to action at 9:30 a.m. today against Ferrum College in the second day of the tournament.

Men’s college soccer
Southern Virginia 4, Averett 3
BUENA VISTA — Southern Virginia’s Josh Patino scored in the final five minutes to give the Knights a 4-3 win over Averett on Friday afternoon.

Patino broke a 3-3 tie on a goal off a pass from Francisco Osegueda, who scored Southern Virginia’s other three goals.

Averett (6-4-1) took a 1-0 lead early off a Tuukka Myyra score on a penalty kick. Osegueda responded with three straighr goals to put Southern Virginia in front 3-1.

Freshman Christopher Jordan led the comeback charge with a goal on a Levi Earl pass to pull the Cougars back within one. Freshman Niclas Karlén knotted the score on a pass from Myyra.