DECATUR, Ga.—Agnes Scott Volleyball fought tooth and nail with two of the best teams in the USA South West Division, but ultimately dropped a pair of four-set matches to Huntingdon and Covenant. The Scotties outscored the Hawks and blitzed the Scots in the opening set, but each seasoned opponent was able to put together enough runs to outlast the home side in each match.
The Scotties fell to Huntingdon 3-1 in the opener (23-25, 25-16, 21-25, 22-25) before seeing a similar result against Covenant (25-13, 10-25, 17-25, 20-25). Agnes Scott now sits at 2-14 overall and 0-4 in conference action after playing the top four teams in the division from a season ago to start off their 2018 schedule.
Match One: Huntingdon 3 – 1 Agnes Scott
The match teetered in all directions from the start as Agnes pressured the Hawks right away with a 14-6 run. However, Huntingdon was able to double their score in an instant before eventually tying the match at 15 all. The two sides traded points back and forth for the next stretch until the Hawks were able to score four of the final five points for a 25-23 victory.
Despite a frustrating result in surrendering a big lead in the first set, Agnes clawed its way back into the match with a commanding 25-16 triumph in the second to set things square. The Scotties hit a match-high .257 in the set with 12 kills compared to only a .030 mark for the Hawks.
The final two sets had fewer ebbs and flows, but remained tight throughout. The Hawks controlled small leads for much of the third and fourth stanzas, and always seemed to be just a slight step ahead of the Scotties. Agnes climbed within one point at the end of each set only to see the Hawks tighten up to close things out.
The Scotties outhit the Hawks with 50-48 kills and outscored them (63-59), but unfortunately fell on the wrong side of the set score three times. Paige Heck (Indianapolis, Ind.) had a season-high 16 kills, while Morgan Pearson (Pensacola, Fla.) chipped in 10.
Tiara White (Sinton, Texas), Makayla Nash (San Francisco, Calif.) and Pearson all finished with double-digit digs including White's 20-dig effort. Bella Kammerer (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) finished with a season-high 38 assists at the setter spot.
Agnes' 50 kills matched its top output this year, which also came in a losing effort to Piedmont International.
Match Two: Covenant 3 – 1 Agnes Scott
Fresh off its first conference loss since 2016—a 3-2 result to Huntingdon in the 2 p.m. match—Covenant looked to still be reeling in the opening set. Agnes Scott took full advantage of every opportunity hitting to an eye-popping .421 percentage in the first game. The Scotties put together several extended rallies that led to a 25-13 win to kick things off.
Covenant settled down quickly and paid the Scotties back with a lopsided win of its own in the second set, 25-10.
The third and fourth sets played out more competitively from both sides, but Covenant had an answer for everything Agnes Scott threw at them in the pivotal turning points of each game. The Scots were able to keep enough distance in both sets to down the Scotties for the 14th consecutive meeting.
The Scotties claimed a set off of Covenant for the second time in as many years after the program had only taken one set in the previous 12 meetings combined.
Heck followed up her stellar performance in the tri-match opener with another one against Covenant, connecting on 16 kills once again. Kammerer put up 29 assists, while White totaled 21 digs.
The Scots were led by Sara Delk and Lindsey Stephens with 10 kills each.
Agnes Scott remains at home with a big conference match against Brevard coming up on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.