Williamsburg, KY – Patriots open the week with a win in five set thriller against Cumberland University. UC won 3-2 (25-20, 26-24, 16-25, 18-25, 15-11), behind double-double performances from Kendall Arnold and Allyson Grava. The Pats move to 13-7 on the season.  

Anna Blumeier led the team's offense with 18 kills. Grava was right behind her with a 15 kill and 16 dig double-double. Grava also added three aces and three blocks, while Emily Prewitt came away with six kills. Arnold had the other double-double as she notched 39 assists and 14 digs. Defensively, Juliet Banks held down the back line as she tallied 35 digs with an ace and a kill. At the net Danielle Jackson came away with three blocks and two aces while Shelby Lackey had two blocks.

Cumberlands started out hot as they notched the first few points of the game. Blumeier tallied the two kills to take the early 3-1 lead. Two plays later Jackson notched her first kill of the game. After a Phoenix point, UC would go on a 6-1 rally to take control of the set. That run was led by three kills and an ace from Grava, while Lackey and Blumeier added a kill each. Later in the set, Grava added three more kills to her totals to put the Pats up 19-10. After a small Phoenix run that cut the gap to three 23-20, Blumeier would get a kill for set point and a Cumberland error gave UC the first set.

Set two opened with some back-and-forth action, that put UC ahead 10-7. After a Phoenix timeout, the Pats would go on a run. Jackson started the run with a kill, Arnold followed with an ace. After an error, Blumeier notched a kill. Then the Patriots got back-to-back kills from Jackson and Lackey to go up 15-10. On the next serve, Jackson put in one of her two aces. A few plays later, Grava tallied a kill, and Kira Ervin followed it up with an ace to extend their lead to 18-12. From there Cumberland rallied to tie the set at 24-24, but back- to-back errors gave UC the 2-0 lead.

The Phoenix rebounded and took the third and fourth sets to force a set five. Set five opened with a Prewitt kill, followed by a Lexi Lester ace. After an error Prewitt, tipped the ball over the front line for a kill. Cumberland tied the set at 3-3 but UC regained the lead after a Grava kill. UC then rattled off six straight points, behind three errors by Cumberland, back-to-back kills from Blumeier, and a Grava ace for the 10-4 lead. Two plays later, Blumeier notched back-to-back kills, while Arnold and Jackson followed with a block to go up 13-6, forcing a Phoenix timeout. Following the timeout, Cumberland scored four points, before Arnold put in a setters kill to get set and match point. Blumeier ended the game two plays later with a kill.  

Cumberlands return to action tomorrow as they take on UT Southern at 5 pm, before hitting the road and heading up to Pikeville for a match on October 11^th at 7 pm.

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