Juliet, Ill -  Patriots move to 3-3 as they drop both on opening day of the Bulldogs Classic. UC dropped the first match against Montana Tech 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 18-25), then fought hard in game two but dropped a five setter against Spring Arbor (25-20, 25-21, 16-25, 12-25, 15-13).
  
vs Montana Tech  

Sara Zampedri led the Patriots offense as she notched her first double-double, with 16 kills and 12 digs. Rayne Manning and Danielle Jackson added nine kills each. Kendall Arnold tallied 40 assists, while Juliet Banks added 21 digs.

After a late rally helped Montana Tech take set one, Cumberlands rallied to take set two. The Pats found themselves down 6-3 before going on a 7-0 run to take a 10-6 lead and force a Montana timeout. That run featured kills Allison Moneypenny, Rylie Depue, Kara Gipson, along with two kills from Arnold. Zampedri also added a kill and an ace. Following the timeout, Gipson, Jackson, and Zampedri added kills to maintain a four-point lead 14-10. MT would score three in a row before the Pats answered with a 5-2 run. A kill from Arnold sparked the run, then an error and a Jayce Braden kill gave UC the 17-13 lead. Braden and Zampedri added another kill each that forced a timeout. Coming out of the timeout with a 20-15 lead, three errors and two Rayne Manning kills ended the set 25-21 in Cumberlands favor.

Montana Tech rallied to take the next two sets to win the match 3-1.

vs Spring Arbor

Zampedri put in another double-double as she tallied 16 kills and 21 digs. Moneypenny and Jackson also came away with double-digit kill numbers with 13 and 10, respectively. Arnold ended with 46 assists and an ace. On the back line, Banks tallied 26 digs, and Jada McAvene added 15 digs.

UC got off to a fast start, starting the set on a 10-3 run. Arnold got the Pats started with a kill and an ace. From there, Zampedri notched three kills, while Jackson and Maddi Underwood added a kill each. Then a Moneypenny block gave the Pats a 16-9 lead and forced a Spring Arbor timeout. From there, the set would go back and forth, with UC maintaining their lead and taking the set 25-20.

The Patriots started set two with the momentum jumping out to a 12-5 lead. Spring Arbor went on a run of their own to cut the gap down to 18-6. A Jackson kill stopped the run, and then Moneypenny put in two kills to get the Pats a 22-17 lead. Spring Arbor called a timeout, then scored three straight points to force a Coach Park timeout. Following the timeout, kills from Jackson and Zampedri gave Cumberlands set point, and Gipson put in a kill to take the set 25-21.

Spring Arbor rallied to take set three and four to force set five. The Pats notched the first point of set five from an error. Three plays later, Zampedri notched a kill, followed two errors giving UC a 4-2 lead. Spring Arbor rattled off four straight points to regain the lead and force a Cumberlands timeout. A few plays later, with the 10-8 lead in favor of Spring Arbor, an error and kills from Moneypenny and Jackson gave UC a late lead. Following a timeout, Moneypenny notched another kill before Spring Arbor tied the set at 12-12. Moneypenny would notch another kill, but Spring Arbor scored three in a row to take the set and the game.

Cumberlands returns to the Pat Sullivan Center for day two of the Bulldogs Classic tomorrow. They will take on Bellevue at 9 am and St. Francis at 11:30 am.

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