Williamsburg, KY- Patriots ended the opening weekend with a 3-1 record after sweeping day two of the Cumberlands Invite. In the first game against IU Southeast, the Pats won 3-1 (25-19, 14-25, 25-18, 25-15), then followed with a 3-0 sweep over Union (25-13,2512, 25-16).  

vs IU Southeast

The Pats had four players reach double-digit kills, with Allyson Grava leading the way with 14. Kara Gipson had 12 kills, while both Danielle Jackson and Sara Zampedri added 10 kills each. Juliet Banks led the back line with 26 digs, while Savanah Jolly added 18 digs. Kendall Arnold came away with 43 assists, while Allison Moneypenny notched four aces.

Grava got the game started with a kill. Then a few plays later, she went on a 3-0 run notching a kill and two aces to take a 9-6 lead. After some back-and-forth action, UC got a kill from Zampedri followed by a block from her and Jackson to take the 17-14. After a Grenadiers point, Grava notched another kill, and Jolly followed with an ace to force IU Southeast timeout. Following the timeout, the Pats continued their run and scored the final six points to win the set 25-19.

IU Southeast rebounded to take the second set before the Pats went on to win the final two sets. The Patriots got set three started on a 7-1 run to take control of the set. From there, the Grenadiers tried to fight back, but their run was ended by a Zampedri kill and two aces from Moneypenny. Two plays later, Grava notched two kills to take the 19-12 lead. A couple of plays later, Jackson gave the Patriots set point, and Zampedri ended the set 25-18.

With a 2-1 lead, UC started set three on a 7-3 run featuring kills for four players. Following two points from IUSE, Grava, Kira Ervin, and Zampedri notched kills for the 11-6 lead. A few plays later, the Patriots scored five straight points. The points came from two errors, a Grava kill and a Jackson and Grava block. Gipson would then notch two kills, while Arnold put in an ace to score the final three points of the match.

vs Union

In game two, Grava tallied 15 more kills, while Zampedri added 14 kills. Arnold came away with 45 assists, while Banks tallied 12 digs.

The Patriots got off to a hot start, as they took an 11-3 lead that forced an early timeout. After the timeout, Zampedri and Grava notched three kills each and a Jackson kill to take the 18-8 lead. Following another Union timeout, Cumberlands would go on to win the set 25-13.

Set two and three saw the Patriots take early control of each set, then went on multiple runs to take both sets in blowout fashion. Both Banks and Grava earned All-Tournament honors.

The Pats will hit the road and head to Joliet, IL for the Bulldogs Classic Tournament next weekend on August 25 and 26.

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