Williamsburg, KY – Mackenzie Koch recorded a season-high 13 kills to lead the UC volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-14) win over Cumberland in their Mid-South Conference opener Tuesday night at the UC Volleyball Gym. With the win the Patriots extend their win streak to six straight and improve to 10-4 overall, while the Phoenix fall to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in MSC play.

Both teams came out strong trading points until Cumberlands notched back-to-back points to take a 6-4 lead.  From that point the Patriots went on an 8-2 run, which included a pair of Koch kills and a Jen Stein ace to extend their lead to 14-6.  Later in the set Cumberland cut the led to 17-12, before Koch posted back-to-back kills to extend UC's lead.  After trading points, Lynsey Short dished out assists to Anna Zuniga and Megan Jackson to win the set 25-17 and take a 1-0 lead.

Cumberlands carried the momentum into the second set jumping out to an early 3-1 advantage.  The Phoenix battled back as the game was tied six times with the final time coming at 13-13.  From that point Jackson and Koch teamed up for back-to-back blocks, which sparked an 8-0 run giving UC a 20-13 lead.  The Phoenix responded with a 7-3 run of their own to cut the lead to 23-20, however two straight Cumberland errors gave the Patriots the set 25-20 and extends their lead to 2-0.

The Phoenix struck first in the third set however UC scored five unanswered points to jump out to a 5-1 lead.  The teams traded points and Cumberland cut the lead to 7-5. UC remained persistent putting together runs of seven points and four points, including a pair of kills by Leah Crist, to take an 18-6 advantage.  The Phoenix scored seven of the next eight points to the lead to 19-13.  UC closed out the set and match on a 6-1 run, with Rebekah Fischer and Ashley Sobocinski notching a block and a kill each, for the 3-0 final.

Koch finished the night with a season-best .591 attack percentage and three blocks, while Sobocinski added eight kills and eight digs.  Short dished out 33 assists, while Jackson added five blocks and five kills.  Routliffe led the way defensively with 16 digs as Stein chipped in ten and Zuniga finished with eight.

The Patriots will return to action Wednesday, September 12, when they face the defending NAIA national champions Lindsey Wilson at 7 p.m. in the UC Volleyball Gym.  Live video will be available here, while live stats for the tournament will be available here.

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