Portsmouth, OH – Savanah Schwarz dished out a career-high 39 assists, while Lily Chapman recorded a team-high 12 kills and 20 digs to lead the Patriots volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-15, 26-24, 21-25, 26-24) win over Shawnee State Tuesday night. With the win, the Patriots improve to 14-12 overall and 5-9 against the MSC.

The Patriots came out strong opening the match with five straight points, including a pair of kills from Chapman. UC  utilized a second 5-0 run to extend the lead to 10-1.  The two teams continued to battle as Shawnee State cut the Patriots lead to 16-10.  Cumberlands responded with a 4-1 run, including a block from Leah Crist to extend their lead to 20-11.  Both teams traded points until Schwarz connected with Chapman for the kill to give the Patriots the first set 25-15 and the 1-0 lead.

UC took advantage of Shawnee State errors in the second set as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead.  The Bears chipped away at the Patriots lead until tying the match at 14-14, however, Schwarz found Crist for a kill to put Cumberlands back in front. Chapman and Crist combined for consecutive blocks to extend the Patriots lead to 17-15. The Patriots went on a 3-0 run to push their lead to four points at 21-17, before Shawnee State went on a 7-3 run to even the set at 24-24.  Cumberlands rallied as Schwarz connected with Chapman and Crist for back-to-back kills to extend UC lead to 2-0.

Shawnee State took the third set 25-21 to cut the lead to 2-1, however the Patriots bounced back in the fourth set. Cumberlands used a five point, four point, and a pair of three point runs to take a 21-13 lead.  Ashley Sobocinski added a kill before a Lexi Lester ace pushed the lead to 23-14.  Shawnee State stormed back with nine unanswered points to tied the match at 23-23.  The two teams traded points before Mackenzie Koch recorded a solo block and an attack error by the Bears give UC the set 26-24 and the 3-1 win.

Sobocinski added 11 kills and 11 digs in the match, while Crist and Koch finished with nine kills apiece.  Crist also tallied a team-high six blocks as Jennifer Stein finished with 19 digs.  In addition to her double-double, Chapman also notched five aces in the match, while Lester finished with three.

The Patriots will return to action Thursday, October 31, when they face Kentucky State in a non-conference match. First serve scheduled for 7 p.m. with live video available here and live stats are available here.

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