Bowling Green, KY – The UC women's volleyball team split their two matches at the MSC tournament that featured a terrific 3-1 win (25-11, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24) against Cumberland University, but dropped a 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 22-25, 25-19, 7-15) battle against Life University. Following the day, the Patriots move to a final 9-14 overall and 6-10 in MSC play.
In their first match against Cumberland University, the Patriots spread the kills around on the team. Lily Chapman was the leader for UC with 14, while Emily Prewitt snagged 13 and Kira Ervin notched 12. Defense played a crucial role in the win for Cumberlands as Jennifer Stein and Lexi Lester both contributed 20 digs. Savanah Schwarz continued her part as the main setter for the Patriots as she took home 39 assists for the day.
At the start of the first set both teams went on to trade points until Danielle Jackson tied it up with a kill to make the score 4-4. This seemed to allow UC to really kick it in gear as they embarked on an 8-0 that was highlighted by a Chapman kill that extended their lead to 12-4. The Patriots carried that momentum in late into the first set as they would go on yet another 5-0 run to make the score 21-7, which featured kills from Ervin and Olivia Verdecchia. Cumberlands ended the first set at 25-11 with a service ace from Ervin, and went up 1-0 on the match.
UC would go on to split sets two and three with the Phoenix which had the match score at 2-1 in favor of the Patriots, but secured the win with an impressive comeback performance in set four. Cumberlands showed some defensive prowess early on with a block from Prewitt and Verdecchia that allowed UC to overtake the lead at 6-5. Attack errors would become an issue for the Patriots later into the fourth set as the Phoenix would capitalize and take back the lead at 12-10. However, Cumberlands maintained composure and was able to battle back with four consecutive points that were spearheaded by kills from Ervin, Prewitt, and Verdecchia to tie the score up at 23-23. UC resumed their hot hand as they ended the fourth set with 3-0 run as Stein assisted back-to-back kills from Ervin that gave the Patriots the match win at 3-1.
In the second match of the day, defense would play yet another large role throughout all five sets. As a team, UC would put up 116 digs with 7 players going into double-digit accumulation while Stein led with 20. Chapman and Prewitt would be the big hitters for Cumberlands as they both tallied 19, and Schwarz had another standout performance at setter as she grabbed 45 assists.
The first set was all Patriots as they hopped out to a quick 7-4 lead with a kill from Ervin. Allyson Grava would be next up for UC as she notched a service ace that grew Cumberlands lead to 12-8. With an assist from Schwarz, Verdecchia resumed the great play as she hammered a kill through the Running Eagles defense that widened the Patriots lead to 16-11. Chapman showed up big again late in the set during a 3-1 run by UC as she nabbed back-to-back kills to secure the first set and the match lead at 1-0 with the score sitting at 25-19.
Unfortunately, the Patriots struggled in sets two and three, but were able to tie up the match at 2-2 with a stellar performance in set four. Once again, Ervin would exhibit her athleticism as she scored a kill with an assist from Schwarz that tied the score up at 8-8. The two teams would go on to trade points for the majority of the set until Cumberlands broke out on a 4-0 run as Prewitt used her length to block Morgan Furness, which put UC in the driver's seat at 17-15. The Patriots finished the fourth set at 25-19 on another 4-0 run with multiple kills from Chapman that pushed the Running Eagles into a decisive fifth set.
As was the trend in the match, UC would exchange points back and forth with the Running Eagles until they tied it up at 4-4 as Life dropped two consecutive points to errors. Nevertheless, Cumberlands couldn't get much going for the rest of the final set as the Running Eagles ended the game with an 11-3 run to take the set at 15-7, and the match at 3-2.
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