The Mary Baldwin volleyball team lost in three sets to Averett University in a USA South conference match Wednesday evening. The visiting Cougars won the match 25-15, 25-18, 25-16.

Mary Baldwin is now 4-8 overall and 0-1 in the conference. Averett improves to 9-2, 1-0 in conference play.

The Squirrels stayed close early in the first set, trailing by two points, 10-8. The Cougars then went on a 10-3 scoring run to take control of the set, 20-11.

Mary Baldwin led early in the second set as a 4-0 spurt put the home team ahead 8-7. Two kills by Rachel Christian and an ace from Soleil Rios Rolon sparked the Squirrels. Averett surged ahead, 15-10, but MBU rallied to tie the score with five unanswered points. Kills by Kate Rudolph and Meghan Andrews led the comeback. Averett responded with a 5-0 run to lead 20-15 and went on the take the second set 25-18.

The Cougars jumped out to a quick 10-5 advantage in the third set and never trailed. An ace by MBU's Sydney Clarke pulled the Squirrels to within 13-10, but Averett scored the next four points to lead 17-10 and went on the close out the match by winning the third set 25-16.

Christian led the Fighting Squirrels with six kills and Rudolph paced the team with 21 assists. 

Saturday, Mary Baldwin will travel to Southern Virginia for a quad-match. MBU will play Methodist and N.C. Wesleyan in conference contests.