Portsmouth, OH - UC Volleyball fell in five sets on Saturday in their final MSC match to the Bears of Shawnee State. The Bears took the win by scores of 25-23, 12-25, 26-28, 25-20, 15-13. Shawnee improves their record to 9-23 on the year and 3-11 in conference while Cumberlands falls to 14-16 overall and 6-8 in the MSC.

The Bears took the first lead to start at 3-1 then UC quickly tied it up at 4-4. Shawnee would again push away to 10-7, again the Patriots managed the tie at 11-11. Four straight points for the Bears gave them a 15-11 lead. UC was able to bring the score closer to 17-16 just before forcing a tie and stealing the lead at 21-19. However, Shawnee took four in a row to regain the lead at 23-21. Each team would trade a point until the Bears took the first set win 25-23.

In the second set, Cumberlands came out strong with a quick 4-1 lead and increased it to 10-3. The Patriots continued to pound taking an 11 point lead at 17-6. The Bears weren't able to gain the momentum while UC kept rallying to win the second set 25-12.

The third set was a constant battle for the win as the lead was changed three times with UC taking the 10-8 lead. The Bears then took six straight for the 14-10 lead. Cumberlands was able to win the next seven of ten to tie the match at 17-17 then followed up by taking the lead at 19-18. Shawnee forced a tie before UC pushed ahead to 21-19. The Bears eventually tied it up again at 22-22 then stole back the lead at 24-23. Just like before, UC took back the lead at 25-24. After exchanging points, the Patriots scored two straight for the 28-26 third set win.

With the match on the line, Shawnee came out with a 4-2 lead to start the fourth set. UC managed to take three straight to take the lead at 5-4, but the Bears took it back at 7-5 with three points of their own. Cumberlands forced the tie at 9-9, Shawnee then scored two more to go up 11-9. The Patriots again tied it and the Bears followed up with three points for the 14-11 lead. This lead would eventually turn to 21-14 Shawnee. UC mustered a slight comeback, although the Bears stayed in control to win the fourth set 25-20.

The Bears again opened up strong with a quick 9-2 lead for the fifth set. Cumberlands slowly chipped away at the lead until they came within two at 11-9. Shawnee again pushed further away to 14-9 then the Patriots scored four straight to come within a point of tying the set. Despite UC's outstanding rally to overcome the large deficit, the Bears scored the final point to win the match and fifth set 15-13.

Mackenzie Koch notched a career high of 19 kills in the match while Megan Jackson had her own career high kills at 17. Lynsey Short tallied a career high assists at 59, 12 digs, and nine kills. Tara Routliffe notched 37 digs and two service aces. Abbie Genders had four assisted blocks as Megan Willoughby earned three.

The Patriots will take the court in Bowling Green, KY for the Mid-South Conference tournament on Thursday, November 9. Cumberlands earned the fourth seed in the tournament and will be taking on fifth-seed Life at 1 p.m. Links for live video and stats can be found on the MSC volleyball tournament page located here.

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