Pacers Open USA South Action with a Loss to Cougars

Raleigh, NC-Peace opened conference action tonight at the Hermann Student Center with a 3-1 loss to the Cougars.  Peace dropped to 4-6 overall.  Averett continued their opening stride and improved to 7-3 thus far.

The visitors opened with a strong 6-12 lead in set one.  Peace stayed in the match and came to within three at 20-17 on a four-point service run by Amber Lowe (Cedar Grove, NC).  AU closed the set 25-19 on three kills and a Pacer error.

Peace took early control of set two with a 12-7 advantage.  The Cougars chipped away at the Pacer lead to go up by three at 19-16 and finish off the hosts on two service aces from Jordan Maupin.

Once again, set three opened in favor of Averett who took a quick 9-3 lead.  Four kills from Megan Melchiorre (Durham, NC), assisted by Olivia Griffin (High Point, NC), put the Pacers within one and forced visiting coach Danny Miller to regroup with a timeout.

The break worked briefly, but Peace kept charge of the court's momentum and forced a fourth set with a 25-21 win.

Unfortunately for Peace, AU took a quick hold of set four and sealed the match win with a 25-12 victory.

Melchiorre led the Pacers with 13 kills, adding nine digs.  Lowe earned 22 of the team's digs in the loss.  Setters Bree Crook (Reno, NV) and Griffin split the 24 assists recorded for Peace.

Averett's Shannon Andy and Maupin led all with 17 and 14 kills, respectively.  Libero Marie Keatts earned 38 digs in the win.

Peace travels Saturday to Ferrum, Virginia, for their first USA South quad-match this season.  Peace opens with Ferrum at Noon followed by last year's league-leader Christopher Newport at 2:00 pm.  The next home match is slated for Tuesday, September 22, versus The Pride of Greensboro College.  See you on the sidelines!