Pikeville, KY – The University of the Cumberlands volleyball team had five players record at least five kills en route to their second straight sweep defeating Pikeville 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-12) Saturday afternoon at UPike Gym. With the win, the Patriots improve to 11-6 overall and 3-4 in conference play, while the Bears move to 6-10 and 0-7 against the MSC.

Cumberlands opened the match with six straight points, including three assists by Anna Zuniga, to take the early lead.  Pikeville responded with a 10-2 run to take a 10-8 lead.  Mackenzie Koch recorded consecutive kills before a kill by Olivia Verdecchia put UC back in front 11-10. After the match was tied six times, Cumberlands notched four straight points, capped off by a Jen Stein ace, to take a 21-17 lead.  The two teams traded points before Lexi Lester dished out assists to Koch and Verdecchia to help UC take the first set 25-20.

The Patriots strong play continued in the second set as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead in part to a pair of kills from Chapman.  After trading points, UC tallied four unanswered to extend the lead to 12-2.  The Bears responded with 9-1 run cutting the lead to 13-11.  The two teams traded points until Pikeville evened the score at 17-17.  From that point, Koch and Verdecchia combined for three kills as part of a 5-0 run to give UC a 22-17 edge. The Patriots won three of the final four points in the set to win 25-19 and extend their lead to 2-0.

In the third set, UC made runs of nine, four, and four points to take the set 25-12 and the match 3-0. With Pikeville leading 3-2, Savannah Schwarz dished out a pair of assists as part of a 4-0 run to put Cumberlands in front 6-3.  The two teams traded points before Lester connected with Koch for a kill to give UC an 8-5 edge. That kill sparked a 9-0 run by the Patriots, including three Lester assists and a pair of Patriot blocks, to extend Cumberlands lead to 16-5. Later in the set with UC lead 20-11, Koch, Verdecchia, and Lily Chapman each notched a kill as part of a 4-0 run to extend the lead to 24-11 and UC would eventually take the set 25-12.

Koch led the way for the Patriots with a season-high 12 kills and a .688 hitting percentage in the match.  Chapman chipped in nine kills and a pair of solo blocks, while Sobocinski added seven kills and nine digs. Lester tied a career-high with 19 assists while Zuniga and Schwarz finished with 11 assists apiece. Defensively, Stein scooped 12 digs and added three aces, while Montague finished with seven kills. Chapman finished with 13 kills and a block, while Sobocinski recorded eight kills and eight digs in the match.  Lackey chipped in seven kills and four blocks in the match.  Defensively, Jennifer Stein scooped a team-high 15 digs, while Montague recorded eight.  Crist led the way with six blocks in the game as well. 

The Patriots will return to action Thursday, October 3, when they host MSC foe Life. First serve is set for 6 p.m. with live video available here and live stats available here.  

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