Box Score Lookout Mountain, GA - It certainly didn't come easy for Piedmont volleyball earlier tonight as the Lady Lions needed to climb out of a two-set deficit at USA South foe Covenant College to earn their 11th straight victory.  Trailing by two sets, Piedmont was able to fend off the Scots' attack at the net and home crowd to keep their longest winning streak of the NCAA era alive with a 3-2 five set win.

Over the first two sets, the hopes for Piedmont continuing its ten-game winning streak looked dim as the host Scots stormed to a 25-16 win in the opening set.  In set #2, PC would keep the score closer but saw Covenant tab a 25-23 set win to take a commanding 2-0 advantage in the match and stand just 25 points away from ending the visitors' winning stretch.

However, Piedmont Head Caoch Sid Feldman made some defensive adjustments to help his team get back in it with a 25-16 win of their own in the third set before taking the fourth set in tie-break fashion 27-25 on Danielle Maffett's kill from an assist by Kaitlin Norman to draw even with the Scots at two sets apiece. 

Those first four sets would set up the decisive final set in front a packed house at the Barnes Center as Covenant's home court would prove tough to mentally overcome so far on the night.  However, PC raced out to a couple of quick early points in the set and found themselves ahead in commanding fashion 10-6 later in the fifth.  A kill by Taylor Cramsey, who had ten on the evening, made the Piedmont advantage five points at 11-6 just before the freshman middle from Woodstock Katelyn Dobbs would make her mark on the match with a kill and back-to-back solo blocks to put PC one point away from claiming the overall match.

Two Covenant kills and a blocking error by PC would keep the Scots in the match until an error on the serve handed Piedmont the 3-2 hard fought win on the road in conference play, their first such win, pushing the Lady Lions' overall mark in conference play to a perfect 3-0 with all three matches coming against South Division opponents.

Senior Kaitlin Norman had a stellar performance in the win over Covenant tallying 19 kills in 38 attempts to hit .474 with just one error to her name.  The Good Hope, Georgia native also accounted for five block assists on the evening for the Lady Lions who accumulated 12 total blocks against Covenant.  Norman was the main attraction of the Piedmont offense as the next closest in that hitting percentage category was setter Xandy Green who posted a .200 mark on one of five hitting though she collected 21 assists from her position.

Also having a night to remember was libero Katie Faith who picked up 33 digs on the evening, besting her season high by a dozen digs.  Faith is the only Lady Lion to tally more than 30 digs in a single match during the 2013 season and also added a pair of service aces against Covenant. 

Faith led a slew of Lady Lions who collected double digit digs including veteran hitter Ashley Fannon who showed her versatility on the court adding 18 digs to the effort while tabbing eight kills at the net.  Her classmate Jessica Hollis also put in 18 digs to the totals while setter Katheryn Knarr collected 16 digs to go with her team-high 27 set assists. 

The win moves Piedmont to an incredible 13-1 overall record as they continue to set the mark for the best start by a Piedmont volleyball team in the NCAA era which began at Piedmont with the 2003 season.  The Lady Lions will look to make it an even dozen wins in a row this weekend when they travel to Greensboro, North Carolina this coming Saturday for a tri-match with Guilford College and Shenandoah University, a pair of ODAC opponents.  That tri-match starts a stretch of four matches for PC in two days as they also host Maryville and Agnes Scott in a home tri-match on Sunday.