Pikeville, KY – With consistent hitting from the outside through all three sets, the UC women's volleyball team posted a bounce-back shutout victory at 3-0 against the Pikeville Bears on Thursday night. Following the win, Cumberlands moves to 4-9 overall and 3-6 in MSC play.
For her sixth match in a row, Lily Chapman led all Patriots hitters with 11 kills, 13 digs, and one service ace. Savanah Schwarz, once again, was the main setter for Cumberlands as she bagged 20 assists and eight digs, while freshman, Kira Ervin, contributed eight kills and two digs.
The Patriots offense was working well to start the first set as Cumberlands ran out to a quick 3-0 lead, which was spearheaded by a Chapman kill along with a Rachel Scott service ace. UC continued to keep their foot on the gas as they fell into a serious offensive rhythm with multiple kills from Chapman and Danielle Jackson to ignite another 9-1 run to extend their lead to 12-1. A few possessions later, the Schwarz assist for the Chapman kill would come into effect that would widen the Cumberlands advantage to 19-3. The rest of the set was all UC as they dominated the Bears to snag the 1-0 match lead with the first set score sitting at 25-5.
To start the second set, the Patriots and the Bears would trade kills back-and-forth that tied the score up at 4-4. After a 6-4 Pikeville run, Cumberlands would be able to battle back and cut the Bears lead to 10-8 with solid defense as they forced an attack error by Erin Ende. Ashley Sobocinski would be next up for UC as she smoked a service ace through the Bears defense to overtake the lead at 18-17. Despite their struggles throughout the set, the Patriots maintained composure on crucial possessions with Chapman notching the block that won the second set at 25-22. With their match lead at 2-0, UC had some breathing room heading into the third and final set.
In similar fashion to the start of the second set, both teams would exchange points at the start which kept the score tied at 3-3. However, Cumberlands would, once again, seem to find their sweet spot offensively as Ervin would grab back-to-back points with a block and a kill to put the Patriots up at 8-5. Ervin would go on to resume her strong presence on the outside for UC as she hammered another kill that enlarged the UC advantage to 13-7. Following multiple attack errors by the Bears, Olivia Verdecchia would expand the Cumberlands lead to 17-12 with a kill of her own. As was the trend in the match, UC ended the third set strongly with a Sobocinksi service ace that capped off their 8-3 run and won the set with the score at 25-15. With solid performances in all three sets, the Patriots were able to walk away with the 3-0 match win.
The women's team will return to the court for a double-header on Saturday, March 20 as they will face Thomas More and Montreat College. Both matches will take place at the UC Volleyball Complex with the first match taking place at 12:30 PM and the second starting at 5:00 PM.
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