Portsmouth, OH – With consistent play on both offense and defense, the UC women's volleyball team bounced back in a serious way after their loss on Saturday as they posted a 3-0 shutout victory (25-23, 27-25, 25-18) against the Shawnee State University Bears on Monday evening. Following the win, the Patriots now move to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in MSC play.

For the second match in a row, Lily Chapman led all UC hitters with 14 kills to accompany her two service aces. Savanah Schwarz had another great night for the Patriots as she put up 27 assists with seven digs, while Emily Prewitt contributed six kills with two blocks.

Cumberlands was able to hop out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first set due to three consecutive attack errors by the Bears. After both teams went on to trade points, the Patriots would continue to apply pressure on Shawnee State as they posted a 6-0 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Chapman and Danielle Jackson to put UC out front at 12-5. Cumberlands would resume the great offensive night with a connection between Schwarz and Chapman for the assist to kill combo to extend the Patriots lead to 19-11. However, the Bears would not go down without a fight as they went to make a 6-0 run of their own to make the 23-21 with UC still out front. Nevertheless, the Patriots would maintain composure at the end of the set and end it with a Chapman kill to take the first set at 25-23, and go up 1-0 for the match.   

The Bears would come out firing in the second set with a 6-2 run to go up early, but Cumberlands would carry on the fight. Prewitt would be the next big hitter for UC as she slammed a kill through the Shawnee State defense to cut the Patriots deficit to 10-15. Following a series of Cumberlands substitutions, the Patriots would find their footing as they scored six-consecutive points spearheaded by an Allyson Grava service ace to cut the Shawnee State lead to 18-19. Going into extra points, UC embarked on a 4-1 comeback run featuring an Ashely Sobocinski kill to win the second set at 27-25 and go up 2-0 for the match.

With the 2-0 set lead, Cumberlands had some breathing room going into the third and final set. Schwarz kept up her huge night for the Patriots as she smoked a service ace through Bears defenders to take the early 6-5 advantage. As the third set progressed, UC settled into their offense with yet another Schwarz to Chapman assist for the kill combo that kept Cumberlands lead at 16-13. To end the match, Jennifer Stein pounded two service aces to take the third set at 25-18, and give UC the 3-0 match win.

The Patriots will return to the court on Thursday, March 11 to take on Campbellsville University in Williamsburg, KY. First serve is set for 1:30 PM.

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