LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Possibly one of the most intense volleyball matches ever played at Covenant took place on Monday night against University of the Cumberlands. The Lady Scots fought hard the entire night, but came up on the short end of a 3-1 decision, with Cumberlands taking home the victory 25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19. Covenant gave all they had on the court, alongside a crowd of over 300 screaming fans.
The first game started off even, Covenant keeping pace with UC. With the score 15-14 in favor of the Cumberlands, the visiting Lady Patriots took over with a 6 point run to gain a 21-14 lead. They would go on to win the first 25-18. Cumberlands did a superb job defending the ladies' hard hits.
After switching sides, the Lady Scots came back into the second game strong, again keeping pace with a talented set of Lady Patriot hitters. As game two came to a close, UC was able to expose some weak points in the Lady Scots positioning and take control late in the game.
Covenant started the third game with only a little hope left. The game was close, with the Lady Scots trailing behind. After a couple of fantastic slams, Covenant had caught up to the Lady Patriots. While the intense crowd was yelling in the background, the ladies slowly earned the victory, thanks to three straight kills from senior Kait Glass.
At this point, the fans were on their feet cheering as loud as ever, but the balanced attack of the Lady Patriots was too much. Although Covenant hung close during game four, Cumberlands mounted an 8-3 run to end the match.
The Lady Scots fought valiantly, but fell to 2-1 on the young season.
Jessie Jakes, who seemed to catch fire early, led all attackers with 15 kills. Erica Adams and Kait Glass followed with 9 and 8, respectively.
The Lady Patriots had 4 girls with 10 or more kills on the night: Mariah Gray (14), Stacey Sebald (13), Kelsey Eastham (10), and Holly Bronner (10). Gray's 14 kills came on 22 total attempts, all without committing an error.
Covenant has a tournament at Berry College this Friday and Saturday with matches against Huntingdon College, Berry College, Oglethorpe University, and Mississippi College. The Lady Scots will return home on September 20 for a match against Oglethorpe.
