FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist volleyball team fell to Averett, 3-0, on Tuesday evening in the Riddle Center.
 
Averett (13-11, 7-3, USA South) cruised to a 25-14 win in the first set before a hard-fought 25-23 win over MU (10-10, 5-3 USA South) in the second set. The Cougars closed out the sweep and avenged an earlier loss to the Monarchs with a 25-16 win in the third set.
 
As a team, Averett hit .354 and had 13 service aces, while limiting Methodist to a .184 hitting percentage in the sweep.
 
The Monarchs were led by Cassidy Hayes, who had a team-high eight kills, and Ryann Appleby chipped in six. Maggie Harris had 21 assists, seven digs and three service aces. Karly Klimas had seven digs as well, and Chyenne Pump picked up a pair of blocks.
 
Hannah Shields paced Averett with 16 kills and hit .345 to go with eight service aces. She got off to a fast start with seven kills and five service aces in the first set alone. Sarah Smoot had 13 kills with a .367 hitting percentage, and Jessica Sheek chipped in seven kills. Nicole Barringer posted 38 assists. Christiana Summa led AU with 13 digs and Shields added 11.
 
Methodist is back in action on Thursday when it hosts Roanoke at 7:00 pm.