DEMOREST, Ga. – Maryville completed its third Saturday sweep in a row and vaulted into second place in the Collegiate Conference of the South.
The Scots took down Belhaven 3-1 and host Piedmont 3-2. The scores against Belhaven were 25-16, 26-24, 18-25 and 27-25. Against Piedmont, Maryville prevailed 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 20-25 and 15-13.
It was Piedmont who spanked the Scots 3-0 back on Sept. 23 before this current streak of Saturday success began. Since that defeat, Maryville has won seven of eight in the league and seven of nine overall.
MC at 8-2 in the CCS trails only Covenant (11-0) and leads third-place Piedmont (8-3) by a half-game.
"We battled through some injuries and found a way to make things work," Maryville interim head coach
Brienna Laskowski said. "We had people playing new positions, which isn't ideal. But those people found a way to play big and make key plays. Today's wins weren't pretty, but they were a team effort."
Bailey Plays Big vs. Blazers
In the Belhaven win,
Reese Bailey led all players with 12 kills and attacked at a .391 clip.
Dakota Vaiese and
Addie Smith both had double-doubles. Vaiese contributed 21 assists and 13 digs, while Smith pitched in with 16 assists and 10 digs.
Ashley Hilbelink was the digs leader with 15, followed by
Landry Frisch with 14.
Maryville trailed 24-22 in the second set before scoring the final four points.
Hannah Kammer started the rally with consecutive kills, and Vaiese finished it up with a service ace for the 26-24 win. That was key because the fourth set was also tight. Maryville trailed 24-23 when Bailey posted a kill and Smith followed with a service ace. After the Blazers tied it, Bailey had another kill and then she served it out for the 27-25 clincher.
Maryville had a 6-4 edge in blocks, with
Kenzie Brewster posting four block assists and Smith three.
The Piedmont match went back and forth to the end. Smith posted a triple-double with 10 kills, 11 assists and 10 digs, while Frisch led all players with 14 kills and Bailey had 12. Vaiese added another double-double with 27 assists and 11 digs, with
Ella Reyes contributing 12 assists,
Ally Sokolow 31 digs and Frisch 25 digs to complete her double-double.
In the fifth set, Maryville trailed 7-2 before the Scots put three straight on the board capped by a
Cailin Mastropasqua kill that made it 7-5. It was still 11-7 Lions when the Scots reeled off six consecutive points to flip the set. Bailey had a kill, as did Frisch, and Smith had two to put the Scots in front 13-11.
Piedmont tied it but then a final Bailey kill closed it out for the 15-13 result.
Maryville improved to 13-10 overall and is home Tuesday night against Berea in a 6 p.m. start. The Mountaineers enter at 11-10 overall and 7-4 in the CCS.
