Bowling Green, KY – The (RV) Cumberlands volleyball team set the program record for wins in a season as they defeated seventh-seed Freed-Hardeman 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 26-24) in the quarterfinals of the Mid-South conference Tournament Thursday afternoon. The win was the Patriots 19
th sweep of the year as they advance to the conference semifinals for the second straight season.
Sara Zampedri, the MSC Player of the Year, led the way with 15 kills and nine digs.
Aleksandra Augustyniak chipped in nine kills, while
Kendall Arnold tallied 21 assists and seven digs.
Juliet Banks led Cumberlands with 15 digs and a pair of aces as
Davey Slaughter tallied 11 digs and three aces.
Freed-Hardeman jumped out to a 3-0 lead, before UC responded with three straight points including a block from
Alana Shiery and
Sara Zampedri to even the score. The two teams traded points until
Kendall Arnold notched three straight assists followed by a
Ryann Livingston ace put UC in front 9-6. Cumberlands utilized a 5-1 run, that saw a pair of kills from
Kara Gipson extend the lead to 15-8. After the teams traded points,
Aleksandra Augustyniak tallied three kills as part of a four-point run to make it 21-11. Freed-Hardeman went on a 5-0 run, before UC closed out the set with a 4-1 run capped off by a
Allyson Grava kill to take the set 25-17.
The Patriots carried that momentum into the second set opening with a 9-0 run. That run featured a trio of aces from
Davey Slaughter, and kills from
Kendall Yarber and Zampedri. Cumberlands notched a three-point run coupled with a pair of two-point runs to extend the lead to 18-5. Juliet added a pair of aces as part of a four-point run, while
Savanah Jolly connected with Zampedri for a kill making it 24-10. UC took the second set 25-11 to extend the lead to 2-0.
The third set opened with six tied before Arnold found Grava for a kill giving Cumberlands a 7-6 edge. The Lions utilized a three-point run to take the lead and take an 11-10 lead before consecutive kills from Zampedri put UC back in front 12-11. Zampedri and Arnold notch back-to-back kills to put the Patriots in front 15-13. The match saw the score tied seven times, the last time came as Zampedri notched an ace to even the score at 22-22. Freed-Hardeman took a 24-22 lead, however, the Patriots battled back as Augustyniak notched a pair of kills before closing out the set with a block from Augustyniak and Gipson as UC took the set 26-24 and the 3-0 win.
Cumberlands advances to the semifinals where they will face the winner of #3 Campbellsville vs. #6 Bethel on Friday, November 8
th. First serve is set for 7 p.m. (ET)
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