Barbourville, KY – UC Volleyball team returned to their winning ways as the posted a pair of victories in a tri-match Saturday afternoon. The Patriots defeated Allen 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-18) before knocking off Union 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-15) to improve to 18-10 on the season.
Cumberlands had four different players record eight kills as part of the 3-0 win over Allen. In the first set, the two teams traded points before UC took advantage of Yellow Jacket miscues to take a 9-4 lead.
Lynsey Short and
Lily Chapman each notched a kill to extend the lead to 11-7. Later in the set, Allen went on a 6-1 run to cut the lead to 19-18, however the Patriots responded with five straight points, including two kills from
Megan Jackson and Chapman to extend the lead to 24-18. An
Abbie Genders kill closed out the set 25-20 and gave UC a 1-0 lead.
In the second set the Patriots held an 11-9 edge before scoring ten unanswered points to extend take a 21-9 lead. That run was aided by three
Tara Routliffe aces and a pair of
Ashley Sobocinski kills. Short then found
Olivia Verdecchia for a kill coupled with a pair of miscues by Allen give the Patriots the set 25-14.
UC jumped out to a quick lead in the third set, before Allen went on a 4-1 run to take a 7-6 lead. UC responded with a 4-1 run of their own to retake the lead for good. The match saw two ties at 10-10 and 11-11 however the Patriots runs of four and six points to take the set 25-18 and the 3-0 win.
Leading the way for the Patriots was Short, who tallied 37 assist and four digs in the contest. Jackson, Sobocinski, Chapman, and Genders each finished with eight kills, while
Mackenzie Koch chipped in six. Routliffe tallied 27 digs and a season-high five aces in the match.
In the second match, Cumberlands fell behind early as Union won the first set 25-22 to take a 1-0 lead. Union jumped out to an 8-6 lead in the second before Cumberlands rallied with kills from Jackson and Chapman to take a 9-8 lead. The Patriots used a 6-3 run, including a block and kill from Koch, to extend their lead to 15-11. Union evened the score 15-15, which was the first of three ties with the final one coming at 18-18. Jackson and Chapman teamed up for a block, which sparked a 7-1 run to take the set 25-19 and tie the match 1-1.
The third set was similar to the previous set as the Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-9 lead. Cumberlands responded with five unanswered points, including two aces from Chapman to take a 14-11 edge. The Patriots used runs of four points and three points to pull away for the 25-21 set win and take a 2-1 match lead.
In the fourth set UC recorded seven unanswered points, including a pair of kills from Koch, to take an 11-4 lead. Koch and Genders tallied back-to-back kills to extend UC's lead to 14-5 as part of the first of three 3-0 runs, which gave Cumberlands a 22-12 lead. UC would cruise to a 25-15 win with Chapman and Genders scoring back-to-back points to close out the match.
Chapman finished the match with a team-high 17 kills, five service aces, and four blocks. Jackson added 14 kills and two blocks, while Short tallied a four set season-high 49 assists and 11 digs. Routliffe lead the Patriot defense with 30 digs, while Sobocinski added 13.
The Patriots will return to action Friday, October 26, when they travel to Lebanon, TN to take part in the Phoenix Classic. Cumberlands will face Union in a rematch at 1 p.m. to start off the day before taking on Tennessee Wesleyan at 5 p.m.
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