Joliet, ILL.- Patriots move to 4-4 as they split day two of the Bulldog Classic. They fell to Bellevue in the first game 3-0 (17-25, 16-25, 12-25), then rallied to finish the day on a good note with a win over St. Francis 3-2 (21-25, 25-12, 24-26, 25-18, 15-8).

vs St. Francis

Sara Zampedri had a great game to end the weekend notching a double-double with 19 kills and 13 digs, while adding five aces. Danielle Jackson came away with 11 kills and five blocks. Rayne Manning also notched a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs. Jori Dowling and Kara Gipson both tallied four blocks each. Kendall Arnold notched 47 assists and Juliet Banks tallied 20 digs.

St. Francis took set one, but UC rebounded in set two. Dowling opened the set with a kill, then two plays later she notched another kill. On the next play, Dowling joined Jackson for a block to take the 3-2 lead. Two players later, the Pats started a 6-0 run. Jackson sparked the run with back-to-back kills, then notched a block with Arnold to take a 7-4 lead. Following a timeout, Zampedri notched a kill and an ace along with another Jackson kill. After a St. Francis score, Jackson, Manning, and Arnold tallied three straight kills to take the 13-5 lead. Later in the set, UC went on another 6-1 run to take complete control of the set. This run featured three SFU errors, two Jackson blocks, and aces from Jada McAvene and Banks for the 23-11 lead. Kills from Zampedri and Manning ended the set and tied the score at 1-1.

SFU rallied and took set three, but Cumberlands answered in set four. Set four started with three straight kills from Jackson, Manning, and Zampedri. Three plays later, Jackson put in a kill and an ace, while Gipson added a kill. The Pats made it an 8-3 lead off kills from Arnold and Banks. Later in the set, after some back-and-forth action, the Pats scored four straight to end the set 25-18.

Joining the action in the middle of set five with the Pats trailing 7-6, UC went on a 6-1 run to take control. Rayne Manning sparked the run with a kill and ace. Zampedri notched two kills, while Dowling also added a kill. Following an SFU timeout, the Patriots got two points off errors to get match and set point, and Zampedri notched the win with a kill.

vs Bellevue

Freshman Allison Moneypenny lead the way on offense with seven digs, while Sara Zampedri added five kills, and Rayne Manning came away with four kills. Kara Gipson put in five blocks, while Danielle Jackson and Moneypenny added two blocks each. Kendall Arnold came away with 20 assists and eight digs, while Juliet Banks added 12 digs.

In set one, the Pats fell behind early before scoring four straight points to close the gap to 10-8. On that run, Moneypenny notched two kills and a block with Jackson. From there, Bellevue held on to their lead to take the set.
BU carried their momentum throughout the rest of the match.

Cumberlands are back on the road next weekend traveling down to Georgia for a tournament at Truett McConnell.

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