Williamsburg, KY – The University of the Cumberlands volleyball team erased a 2-0 deficit to defeat Campbellsville 3-2 (16-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-15, 15-13) Friday night at the UC Volleyball Gym. Lily Chapman notched a career-high 20 digs and her first double-double of the season to help the Patriots improve to 13-10 overall and 4-7 in conference play, while the Tigers move to 15-13 and 3-8 against the MSC.

The comeback has been four years in the making as the Patriots knock off the Tigers for the first time since September 10, 2015, and their first home win against Campbellsville since the 2014 season. 

Cumberlands found themselves in an 8-3 hole early into the first set, however, three straight points capped off by an Ashley Sobocinski kill cut brought UC within two.  That was the closest the Patriots came as Campbellsville used three two-point runs and five-point run to close out the set 25-16 and take the 1-0 lead. 

Campbellsville recorded four runs of four points apiece to take a 23-11 lead in the second set. The Patriots started to rally with as Rachel Scott ace capped off a four-point swing for UC, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers took the second set 25-15 to extend their lead to 2-0.

The tide started to turn in the third set as Savannah Schwarz made her first appearance of the night and connected with Leah Crist for a kill to even the score at 1-1. Mackenzie Koch notched a pair of kills as the match tied five times with the last one coming at 7-7.  UC gained the lead and a Crist kill extend it to 12-10 before Campbellsville tallied three points to take a 13-12 edge.  The back-and-forth match saw four more lead changes until Schwarz found Koch for a kill to put Cumberlands in front for good at 18-17.  UC added an ace from Chapman and a Lester kill to take a three-point lead.  Sobocinski capped off a 5-1 run with consecutive kills to give UC the set 25-19 and cut the score to 2-1.

Cumberlands carried the momentum into the fourth set a jumped out to a 4-1 lead.  The teams traded points until the match was tied at 10-10. Crist notched a solo block, one of her four blocks in the contest, to spark a 6-0 run for UC that also included a pair of Schwarz aces.  Cumberlands added five unanswered points with Schwarz connecting with Chapman for three straight kills to extend the lead to 21-11.  The Patriots closed out the set on a 4-1 run with Koch tallying a solo block to give UC the set 25-15 and force a deceive fifth set.

The fifth set was a back-and-forth battle that saw ten ties and four lead changes.  UC took an 8-7 advantage at the switch, however, the Tigers recorded three straight points to take a 10-8 lead. The Patriots rallied and retook the lead on a 4-0 run, which included a kill and block from Koch, to make it 12-10.  The senior added two more kills to give UC match point at 14-13 and a Tigers error clinches the set 15-13 and the 3-2 win for UC.
Crist led the way for Cumberlands tallying a career-high with 12 kills and four blocks, while Chapman added 11 kills.  Koch chipped in ten kills and four blocks and Schwarz dished out 28 assists throughout the final three sets.  Defensively, Jennifer Stein tallied a  team-high 21 digs making it the fifth time that she had at least 20 digs in a match.

The Patriots will return to action Tuesday, October 22, when they host Georgetown in an MSC showdown with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. Live video will be available here, while live stats are available here. This game will also be UC's Rally for SPED night, which is used to support the Special Education programs in Williamsburg.   

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