Williamsburg, KY – The (RV) Patriots volleyball team sent their seniors in winning fashion as they defeated Freed-Hardeman 3-0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-21) Thursday night at the UC Volleyball Gym.  The win moves UC to 29-3 on the year and 8-2 in MSC play, while the Lions move to 12-14 on the year.

Seniors Kendall Arnold and Juliet Banks led the way for Cumberlands.  Arnold dished out 16 assists and notched 13 digs for the double-double.  She also surpassed 3,000 career assists. Banks notched 12 digs in the match coupled with five assists and an ace.  Sara Zampedri recorded a team-high 13 kills while Allyson Grava and Kara Gipson finished with nine kills apiece.  Davey Slaughter tallied 15 digs, while Alana Shiery made five blocks in the match.

The Patriots jumped out to a 4-1 lead after Allyson Grava and Kara Gipson both recorded kills, while Sara Zampedri notched a service ace for the Patriots.  Freed-Hardeman utilized a 3-1 run to pull within a point, before Cumberlands responded with a 5-1 run that included aces from Davey Slaughter and Ryann Livingston to extend the lead to 10-5.  A couple points later, UC utilized a six-point run that saw Kendall Arnold tally a pair of assists before recording back-to-back aces making it 16-7. The two teams traded runs as a Zampedri kill gave UC a 19-12 advantage.  The Lions went on a 4-1 run, however, the Patriots defense remained tenacious forcing multiple continues before Arnold found Grava for a kill to make it 21-16.  The teams traded points until Cumberlands scored consecutive points to take the first set 25-19.

Zampedri opened the second set with three straight kills as UC took a 5-2 advantage.  The teams traded points before Cumberlands tallied six unanswered points that included a pair of blocks from Alana Shierry to make it 12-4.  UC utilized a six-point run that saw a trio of assists from Savanah Jolly extended the lead to 20-7.  The Patriots closed out the set with five straight points, including a pair of kills from Grava and Zampedri to extend their lead to 2-0 after winning the second set 25-10.

UC opened the third set as Arnold found Zampedri for a kill, which marked the 3,000^th assists of Arnold's career and put the Patriots in front 1-0.  The Patriots utilized a 5-1 run that was capped off with a Kendall Yarber ace to extend their lead to 6-3.  UC traded points until a Gipson kill sparked a three-point run giving the Pats a 12-7 advantage.  After a 7-2 run from Freed-Hardeman, Gipson and Zampedri tallied a kill before combining for a block making it 21-16. The teams traded points until Cumberlands scored two straight points to close out the set 25-21 and the 3-0 final.

The 29 wins are the second most in program history and one behind the program record of 30 set back in 2001.

Cumberlands will be back in action Tuesday, October 29, when they travel to Columbia, KY to face Lindsey Wilson.  First serve is set for 8 p.m.
 
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