RALEIGH, N.C. -- Wednesday night's battle between the top two seeds in the USA South's North division left fans wanting more. Meredith College outlasted the visiting Averett Cougars 3-2 (15-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 18-16) to take a slight lead in USA South Conference North division standings.

In a match of streaks that left the decision to the fifth set, Karlie Long crushed a trio of blasts and finished the series with a service ace to set the tone in the final frame. An error sent the ball back to AU, but Emily Hendricks landed a winner from the outside to maintain the momentum.

Hendricks found the gap again two points later as the Angels held a three-point advantage just before the switch. But Averett's Jordan Pritzer, a Franklinton, North Carolina, local, put down consecutive winners and teammate Sarah Smoot landed a third as the Cougars tied MCVB at sevens.

Hendricks interrupted Averett's rally with another kill, and Keegan Lynch subbed in for a service ace. The team's exchanged the next two points, and AU called for a timeout. The strategy worked, as leading attacker Hannah Shields landed three kills to give the Cougars their first lead of the set at 13-12.

Hendricks and Hannah Blaylock put together two more winners to swing the lead back to the Avenging Angels at 15-14, but a Meredith misstep tied the set for the sixth occasion. AU's Smoot landed a winner, but the Cougars missed the serve to even the score once again.

The Meredith fans jumped to their feet as Lynch subbed in for back-to-back service winners to secure the win for the Angels.

Hendricks and Long led MCVB with 16 kills apiece, and Long added 11 digs and four service aces. Jasmine Aguinaldo tallied five kills from the middle with four blocks, and Katie Keen notched three blocks, nine assists, and a pair of kills. Blaylock dished out 32 assists with five digs, and libero Emery McGee and defender Jessica Goodwin grabbed seven digs apiece in the win.

AU's Sheilds led match with 29 kills, adding 10 digs, and setter Keenan Marks tallied 46 assists.

After a long weekend fall break, MCVB returns to action with a road contest Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Ferrum.