Williamsburg, KY – UC volleyball took the win on Tuesday for senior night and the third annual Rally 4 SPED. The Patriots defeated the Thorobreds of Kentucky State University in five sets by scores of 25-16, 21-25, 25-18, 15-25, 16-14. With the win, Cumberlands improves to 12-15 while Kentucky State goes to 21-10.

The Patriots honored five seniors that will be graduating next May. Tipmana Tanajantaporn, Bailey Fowler, Jessica Severs, Megan Willougby, and Chelsey Pomeroy were each recognized prior to the start of the game.

In the first set, the Patriots jumped ahead to a 3-3 lead then Kentucky State tied it up at 3-3. After points were exchanged, the Thorobreds took two straight for the 6-5 lead. UC tied it at 6-6 just before Kentucky State recovered the lead at 8-6. Cumberlands tallied three straight to steal the lead at 9-8. Each team traded points until the Patriots scored six straight for the 16-10 lead. UC continued to outscore Kentucky State for a 21-13 lead. The Thorobreds attempted a rally yet the Patriots held on for the 25-16 lead.

The second set started with UC getting ahead with two quick points before the Thorobreds rallied for five straight to take a 5-2 lead. The Patriots shortened the score with two, but Kentucky State took five more to go up 10-4. Cumberlands pieced together seven points to the Thorobreds lone point to tie up the set 11-11. Five straight again for Kentucky State put them up 16-11. The Patriots eventually chipped the lead down to 20-19, however the Thorobreds maintained control to win the second set 25-21.

After the Thorobreds scored the first point in the third set, the Patriots took four of their own for the 4-1 lead. Eventually Kentucky State worked to tie the set at 7-7 then after seven more ties they took the lead at 16-15. Cumberlands then scored six straight to steal the lead at 21-16. From there, UC took the next four of six points to win the third set 25-18.

Kentucky State began the fourth set similar to the third as they took a 5-1 lead. The Patriots brought the score close at 6-5 though the Thorobreds continued to push away at 11-5. The six point lead quickly turned into ten for the 18-8 Kentucky State lead. UC then scored three just before the Thorobreds took four to go up 22-11. Four straight for UC shortened the lead to 22-15, yet Kentucky State won fourth set with three points at 25-15.

The Thorobreds went ahead 2-0 in the final set just before pushing their lead further to 4-1. Cumberlands managed to come within a point at 5-4, however Kentucky State extended their lead to 8-5. After Kentucky State took their lead to 10-6, UC worked their way back to tie the set 10-10. Yet again the Thorobreds stole the lead at 11-10, then each team swapped a pair of points as Kentucky State took the 13-12 lead. UC rallied to tie the set at 13-13 but again the Thorobreds pushed ahead 14-13. With the match on the line, the Patriots gained the momentum for a three point rally to win the match and final set 16-14.

Megan Jackson led the team in kills at ten while Abbie Genders chipped in nine of her own. Genders also tallied three solo blocks in the match. Jen Stein recorded a career-high of four aces, Jackson totaled three of her own. Jessica Severs earned a double-double with a career-high 25 assists and 13 digs. Tara Routliffe notched tied her career-high digs at 32.
 
The Patriots will return to the court on Saturday, October 28 in Marietta, GA to take on Life University. In their last matchup on September 15, Life took the win in three sets. First serve on Saturday is set for 2 PM.

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