Atlanta, Georgia - The Howard Payne University volleyball team wrapped up their historic trip to the Emory Classic tournament with their best performance on the weekend. The Lady Jackets would ultimately fall, 1-3 (14-25,21-25,25-23,19-25) to Covenant College and 0-3 (9-25,19-25,12-25) to Chapman University but Kailey Doering registered a season high 10 kills and Zhartezia Bradley added 11 kills against the Covenant College Scots.

The Lady Jackets (2-5) fell behind Covenant College (3-3) early before storming back to push the second set into the final serve and eventually taking the third set, 25-23. Kailey Doering and Zhartazeia Bradley got together with Cheyanne Lovelady in the final frames and registered two clutch kills to fight off a late Scots rally. Bradley would add a block to get the win and help force a fourth and deciding set. 

Thanks to some superior service aces, Covenant was able to start the fourth set with a 4-0 lead before Howard Payne clawed back to within one point, 7-6 with a service ace from Jordan Livingston. Some clutch play at the net would help the Lady Jackets briefly tie it up at 11-11 but the Scots would go on a four point run to help pull away with the 25-19 result and collect the victory, 3-1. Cheyanne Lovelady and Kailey Doering got together on a couple of kills to help spark a rally down the stretch but the Scots defense helped seal the victory.

Howard Payne led in digs (96 -82) and blocks (5-4) and 
Zhartaezia Bradley registered her tournament best 11 digs in the contest. Kailey Doering picked up a season high 10 kills and Cheyanne Lovelady added 32 assists and a season high 19 digs. Freshmen Setter McKenna Walker finished with career highs in kills with five, digs with 15, points with six, and service aces with one. 

In the final game of the tournament, the Lady Jackets faced off against Chapman University. Winners of three out of their last four contests, the Panthers came into the match focused and took the first set quickly. Howard Payne had taken the first three points behind the strong attack combination of Cheyanne Lovelady and Zhartaezia Bradley but Chapman responded with a 10-0 run to take the set 25-9.

The second set proved to be much more fierce than the first and Kailey Doering led it off by registering a kill to start the frame. Zhartaezia Bradley followed with a block and the Lady Jackets started the set 3-0 for the second straight time. 

They would hold on to lead until the Panthers forced a block error and took the lead, 6-5 but both sides spent the majority of the set exchanging leads. An Ariana Rehm kill pulled Howard Payne within one one point, 18-17 but Chapman would go on a 3-0 run to overwhelm the Jackets and take the set, 25-19.

The Panthers jumped out to a 9-1 lead to start the third and deciding set and Howard Payne couldn't quite dig themselves out of the hole. They would go on a 5-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to four, 13-9 but after a timeout from Chapman, the Panthers went on a 7-1 scoring run to take the set, 25-12 and the game 3-0.

Howard Payne registered 42 digs, 20 assists and four blocks in the contest and Jordan Livingston led all players with 13 digs and Zhataezia Bradley finished with five digs and three blocks.

Howard Payne volleyball will now return home for a three-game homestand beginning on Tuesday at the Brownwood Coliseum. The Lady Jackets will play host to Sul Ross State University at 5:30 p.m. and admission is free. Follow along with us on social media, @HPUJackets on Twitter and @HPUSports on Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.