Maryville Completes 16-0 Regular Season
DEMOREST, Ga. – It took five nerve-wracking sets, but Maryville came from behind for a thrilling 3-2 victory over Huntingdon that kept its perfect regular season alive.
The Scots then dispatched of host Piedmont 3-0 to complete a sweep of Friday's matches and finish undefeated in the USA South for the third consecutive year. Maryville extended its regular season USA South winning streak to 38 matches.
The Scots trailed Huntingdon 1-0 and 2-1 before prevailing 22-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-9 and 15-11. Scores in the nightcap against Piedmont were 25-22, 25-16 and 25-13.
"I am proud of our resilience," Maryville head coach Kandis Schram said. "Now we start all over for postseason. It is always hard to beat a team three times, so Tuesday is going to be a huge challenge."
The Scots open USA South Conference Tournament play Tuesday at the Boydson H. Baird Gymnasium. Maryville plays the second match of a 5 p.m. doubleheader against the winner of opening match between fourth-seeded Huntingdon (14-15) and fifth-seeded Brevard (8-17).
"We are playing really well as a core group," said Schram, who reached 20 victories in a season for the 23rd time in 36 years at the Maryville helm. "The team is playing with heart, passion and love for the game."
Five Tough Sets to Ground Hawks
Maryville registered the first four points of the opening set against Huntingdon, but the Hawks rebounded to tie things at 11-all. Huntingdon took the lead for keeps at 16-15 and won a competitive first set 25-22.
The second set was nearly a carbon copy, with Maryville jumping in front and Huntingdon taking a lead midway through. But the Scots used an 8-2 run featuring kills by Morgan Smithson, Meredith Bonee and Hannah Potts to take control at 18-13. They were never threatened and eased to a 25-16 win.
Set 3 see-sawed Huntingdon's way as the Hawks fought off seven tie scores, the last coming at 17-17. Huntingdon closed on an 8-3 run to win 25-20 and retake the match lead at 2-1.
But Maryville found its groove in Set 4 as Isabella Samson contributed five kills and Potts added three. Bonee contributed two service aces and 10 assists as Maryville rolled 25-9 to draw level.
The fifth set was competitive throughout, with a pair of lead changes early before Maryville squeezed a 6-5 advantage. The Scots then stretched it to 8-5 on an Amii Ingalls service ace. Leading 13-11, Ingalls made a kill and Huntingdon could not complete a kill for the 15-11 decision.
Scots on a Roll
Against Piedmont, Maryville was shaky to open Set 1 and trailed by as much as 9-5. The Scots put together a 6-2 run to tie it 11-11, but then the teams were tied 12-12, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16, 17-17 and 18-18. Finally, Maryville won three consecutive points sparked by a Bonee kill and won the opening set 25-22.
The last two sets were more to form as Maryville built leads and slowly pulled away for its 20th victory of the season. The Scots have won 10 matches in a row, 16 of their last 17 and 19 of their last 21 dating to the middle of September to improve to 20-8 overall.
Piedmont finished its season 6-20.
Maryville's 16-0 conference record is the best of the three straight undefeated seasons. The Scots went 14-0 in 2019 and 8-0 last spring during the abbreviated Covid-19 season. The last Maryville loss in the regular season was 3-2 at home to Piedmont back on Oct. 26, 2018.
