The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team almost pulled off a major upset Wednesday evening in Maclellan Gymnasium. Samford rose to 8-1 in the Southern Conference (14-5 overall) after falling two sets down to the Mocs (5-17, 0-9). The set scores were 23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-12. Gylian Finch and Brianna Anderson had 16 and 14 kills and 16 and 15 digs and Maia Rackel added 10 kills for UTC, which got 41 assists and 16 digs from Maddie Halsey, 21 digs from Megan Kaufman and 13 digs from Brenna Everingham.
* Covenant College defeated winless Agnes Scott in USA South volleyball 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-14) with seven kills from Allie Jakes, six apiece from Riley Howe and Sara Delk and 33 assists from Leah Buys. Emily Moore had 13 digs and three aces for Covenant (7-15, 6-4).
Soccer
* The Covenant women's soccer team took sole possession of second place in the USA South standings Wednesday with the program's first win at Piedmont (11-6-1, 5-2) since 2011. Kyra Duble's unassisted goal in the 71st minute was the only score, and Lucy Sandhoff made four saves for the Lady Scots (8-5-2, 5-1-1).
* Scoring twice in the first 6:07 and another goal in the 21st minute, the Tennessee Wesleyan women routed visiting Union College 5-0 for their 10th consecutive win. That made them 14-2, 11-1 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Hannah Dearing, Siobhan Patterson and Laura De La Torre Seoane scored the early goals, and Chandler Holmes netted two in the final eight minutes. Helene Lium Nyhus, Chloe Rootes and Patterson had assists.
* The Bryan College women lost 2-1 but the men won 1-0 in overtime in AAC games at Point University. Josh Cash scored at 93:26 and Igor Espleter had four saves for the Lions (7-5-2, 7-2-1), who led 15-4 in shots on goal. The Lady Lions (9-8, 8-4) scored in the 78th minute on a penalty kick by Arielle Hansford.
Golf
* The Lee University men's golfers, ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division II, concluded the 2019 part of their schedule with a second-place tie Tuesday in the Matt Dyas Invitational at Carrollton, Georgia. Host West Georgia won with a 54-hole total of 836, nine strokes better than Lee and Delta State. Lee senior Dylan Lillard made the all-tournament team with his third-place 207 (69-67-71), and the Flames' Beck Burnette and Connor Pollman tied for ninth and 11th at 211 and 212. Parker Gray tied for 21st at 217.
* Host Dalton State College won the Roadrunner Women's Invitational at Nob North in a field loaded with NAIA Top 25 teams. Led by medalist Isabel Rijos at 223 and runner-up Haejin Choe at 226, the No. 7 Lady Roadrunners shot 917 and edged No. 4 Cumberlands by three with No. 23 USC-Beaufort third at 938. Also for DSC, Cameron Daniel tied for sixth at 231, Sydney Hermann tied for 10th at 233 and Hannah Gasaway and Katelyn Skiffen shared 12th at 235. Rijos has been a medalist seven times in her college career.
* The seventh-ranked Dalton State men and Tennessee Wesleyan finished second and third at 896 and 909 in the 19-team Fall Preview hosted by Truett McConnell at Barnsley Gardens. Bryan was 15th at 975. No. 4 Point won with an 893. DSC's Matthew Cleary and Ben Rebne finished first and second individually at 216 and 218, and Sport Allmond tied for 12th at 226. TWU's Tanner Harris was 11th at 225, and Jeovani Veloz, John Houk, Gavin Roberson and Simon Nagy tied for 15th, 21st, 25th and 27th at 228, 231, 232 and 233. Bryan's Peter Brown and Thad Clark shared 29th at 234.
* Cleveland State and Covenant finished 15th and 16th out of 19 teams Tuesday in the Chick-fil-A Collegiate Invitational at Stonebridge Golf Club in Rome, Georgia. LaGrange won with a 589. Cleveland State's 635 featured Wes Spillers with a 149 and a tie for sixth place, and the Scots' 639 included Nathan Hawkins in a tie for 14th at 151 and Will DeMersseman at 154. Spillers' first-round 71 set a record for the revived Cougars program.