Barbourville, KY – Mackenzie Koch tallied 32 kills, while Leah Crist notched her 200^th career block to lead the UC volleyball team to a split in their tri-match Saturday afternoon.  The Patriots defeated Montreat 31 (25-15, 28-30, 25-17, 25-23), before falling to Union 3-2 (25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 19-25, 8-15) in the nightcap. 

Against Montreat, Shelby Lackey and Lily Chapman tallied the first two points of the night to give UC an early 3-0 lead.   The Cavaliers evened the score before Cumberlands went on a 7-1 run, including a pair of aces from Chapman to take a 10-4 advantage.  Montreat cut the lead to three points, however, UC used a four point run to extend the lead to 21-13.  Lexi Lester dished out a pair of assists as part of the Patriots final three points to close out the set 25-17 and take a 1-0 lead.

Montreat took the second set 30-28 to even the match at 1-1. Cumberlands jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set in part to three straight aces from Chapman.  Mackenzie Koch and Ashley Sobocinski recorded a kill and a block to extend the lead to 11-5.  The two teams traded points throughout the set until UC went on a 6-2 run to win the set 25-17 and give the Patriots a 2-1 lead.  

Cumberlands utilized a 5-0 run, capped off by a Koch kill to take an 11-5 lead in the fourth set.  Later in the set Leah Crist recorded a pair of assisted blocks, one with Olivia Verdecchia and the other with Lackey, to give UC a 14-9 advantage.  Montreat rallied to tie the match at 14-14 and later take a 19-18 lead.  Koch led the charge with two kills and an assisted block to give Cumberlands a 23-20 edge.  Five points later, Anna Zuniga connected with Chapman for the game-winning kill giving Cumberlands the 3-1 win. 

Koch led the way for the Patriots with 14 kills and four blocks, while Chapman notched ten kills and six aces.  Sobocinski and Crist finished with nine kills each as Crist recorded a team-high five blocks.  Jennifer Stein finished with a team-high 16 digs.

Against Union, Koch added a season-high 18 kills as Chapman and Sobocinski tallied 14 and 12 kills, respectfully.  Crist added three blocks, including her 200^th career block coming via a solo block in the second set. 

The Patriots jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set and took advantage of a 7-0 run to take a 22-15 lead.  Then Lester dished out an assists to Koch as part of a 3-1 run to close out the set an give UC a 1-0 lead.

Union tied the match at 1-1 and jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the third set.  The Patriots rallied and consecutive kills by Verdecchia gave UC their first lead of the set at 8-7.  The match went back-and-forth being tied nine times with the last one coming at 19-19. Koch and Verdecchia combined for four straight kills to close out the match and give Cumberlands a 2-1 edge.

The Bulldogs won the fourth set 25-19 to force a fifth set, which they won 15-8 to take the 3-2 win.

The Patriots will return to the court Wednesday, October 9, when they travel to Lebanon, TN to face Cumberland in a conference match.  First serve is set for 8 p.m. with live video available here and live stats available here.
 
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