BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Panthers had a spectacular showing in their games against No. 8 Emory and Covenant College. Led by Leah Nielsen who had a career high 22 kills against Covenant and tied her career high 10 blocks in the Panthers victory over Emory.  Coach Haven O'Quinn reached a milestone in her career with the Panthers win over the Eagles being her 100th.

Match one: The first set was played evenly by both teams until Birmingham-Southern took a six point lead at 19-13. The Eagles tried to shorten the lead and were able to fight back to make it 21-20 with the Panthers still up. Two errors from the Eagles pushed Birmingham-Southern to a 23-20 lead, only two points away from taking set one. Emory took a pair of kills and a service ace to tie it up at 23-23, but the Panthers were not done fighting and a big kill from Leah Nielsen ended set one 25-23. 

Ainsley Schultz started off set two with an ace for the Panthers, getting that momentum started to help push them to an early 4-1 lead. Both teams fought hand and hand, trading points until the Eagles took a six point lead at 21-15. Birmingham-Southern fought back but were unable to finish the set with Emory taking it 25-20. 

The Panthers tried to find their momentum again in the third set with a loud and rowdy crowd cheering them on, but Emory took the early lead. Birmingham-Southern was down 20-8 and Coach O'Quinn called a timeout to get the team back into the game. Following the timeout, the Panthers went on a seven point run to close up the Eagles some at 20-15. Emory took one more point from the Panthers before they went on a six point run to make it 21-20. Keeping up with their momentum and the fight from the comeback, Birmingham-Southern pushed past the Eagles with kills from Kennedy Dickens and Kylie Wilhelmi to end the set 25-23.

Birmingham-Southern was firing on all cylinders, feeding off of their exhilarating third set comeback. The never lost the fight, still going hand and hand with the Eagles tied at 19-19 until a service error for Emory started a four point run for the Panthers. BSC finished the match with a massive kill from Leah Nielsen, her tenth kill of the match, to make it a 3-1 victory. 

Records
(RV) Birmingham-Southern, 2-0, #8 Emory 1-1

Set Summary
SET ONE: 25-23 Birmingham-Southern
SET TWO: 25-20 Emory
SET THREE: 25-23 Birmingham-Southern
SET FOUR: 25-22 Birmingham-Southern
 
Match two: Birmingham-Southern took the early lead in set one at 9-5, but the Scots fought back to tie it up at 9-9. Trading leads back and forth, it was an even game until the Scots took the lead 22-17, looking to finish set one. The Panthers came back to hold the Scots at set point four different times and tied the set at 24-24. The set went into plus-25 play with the Panthers taking the lead at 26-25, hoping to get the win, but the Scots came back to take it 28-26. 

Hoping to take the next set from the Scots, the Panthers took a four point lead at 16-12 after a kill from Gigi Fields. A kill from Leah Nielsen and an error from the Scots put the Panthers at point 20, with Covenant trailing by five. Birmingham-Southern took the last four points of the set with kills from Alyssa Coats and Gigi Fields to finish set two in a 25-16 victory. 

Covenant was not ready to give up yet and played a tough set of back and forth volleyball until going on a seven point run that put them up 21-15. They pushed their lead to 23-16, looking to end the set but Birmingham-southern took the next four to make it 23-20. The Panthers took another five point run with two kills from Leah Nielsen and an ace from Ainsley Schultz, to take their lead 25-24. Although it looked like the Panthers would take set three in a comeback victory, the Scots were able to finish it and win 28-26. 

Continuing the game at even playing field, the Panthers were ready to move things along and took the lead at 16-12. After a service error from Covenant, Birmingham-Southern took three more points to make it 19-13. The Scots tried to fight back, but the Panthers stayed strong and took set three 25-20. 

Going into set five, both teams were ready for a victory on the night. Birmingham-Southern started off really strong with three kills in a row early on. They continued their fight to hold the lead at 11-7, a kill from Gigi Fields brought it to 13-9 and Alyssa Coats gave the Panthers match point with a kill. The Scots fought off set point for the Panthers twice, before Alyssa Coats ended the match with a kill for the Panthers to end a five set fight. 

Records
(RV) Birmingham-Southern, 3-0, Covenant 1-2

Set Summary
SET ONE: 28-26 Covenant
SET TWO: 25-16 Birmingham-Southern
SET THREE: 28-26 Covenant
SET FOUR: 25-20 Birmingham-Southern
SET FIVE: 15-12 Birmingham-Southern

Up Next
The Birmingham-Southern volleyball team will play Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. on Wednesday, September 7 at 5 p.m.