Williamsburg, KY – The UC volleyball team took a break from conference play for the final non-conference match as the season and posted a 3-0 (26-24, 25-8, 25-23) win over Kentucky State Thursday in the UC Volleyball Gym. The win marks the Patriots sixth sweep of the season and improves their record to 15-12 overall.

The teams traded points start the first set as the match was tied at 4-4 before Ashley Sobocinski and Mackenzie Koch tallied consecutive kills to put UC ahead 6-4.  Cumberlands extended their lead to 8-5, however Kentucky State used an 8-3 run to take a 14-11 advantage.  The Patriots rallied as Savannah Schwarz notched one of her two kills on the night, while Jennifer Stein hit an ace to bring UC within a point 14-13.  The Patriots added a 4-1 run, including a trio of assists from Schwarz to even the match at 17-17.  After Kentucky State scored five straight points, Lily Chapman recorded back-to-back kills to lead the Patriots charge.  Cumberlands eventually closed out the set on a five-point run to take the first set 26-24 and the 1-0 lead.

Cumberlands used a six point and ten point run to jump out to a 16-4 lead in the second set.  After a service error, UC tacked on five more points, including Anna Zuniga tallying an assist, a block, and a kill to extend the lead to 21-5.  The Thorobreds went on a 3-1 run, before Shelby Lackey notched back-to-back kills to close out the set 25-8 and extend the lead to 2-0.

The Patriots dug themselves a 9-4 hole in the third set.  Cumberlands started chipping away at the deficit as Koch and Leah Crist combine for five kills to cut the deficit to 14-11.  The two teams continued to traded points until a Zuniga kill made it a one-point match at 19-18.  Cumberlands went on a 5-1 run to take a 23-21 lead, before KSU tied the score at 23-23.  With the set on the line Schwarz connected with Genders for back-to-back kills to close out the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.

Koch led the way with 11 kills and a block, while Sobocinski and Genders finished with eight apiece.  Schwarz continued her strong play dishing out 24 assists, while Champman led the defense with 12 digs.  Crist notched three blocks to go along with three kills in the match.  

The Patriots will return to action Sunday, November 3, when they face Pikeville. First serve scheduled for 2 p.m. with live video available here and live stats are available here.  Prior to the game UC will honor its three seniors for the 2019 class.

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