Bowling Green, KY – The MSC Player of the Year Sara Zampedri notched a career-high 31 kills and 24 digs as the second-seed Patriots overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat third-seed Campbellsville 3-2 (22-25, 20-25, 25-16, 26-24, 15-11) Friday night.  With the win UC improves to 32-4 on the year and advances to the Mid-South Championship match Saturday at 4 p.m. against Lindsey Wilson.

In addition to Zampedri, Allyson Grava tallied 17 kills and nine digs, while Savanah Jolly dished out 31 assists, nine digs, and four kills.  Kendall Arnold chipped in 26 assists to go along with 17 digs as she now clipped 1,000 digs in her career.  Juliet Banks notched 24 digs and three aces in the match.

The Tigers won the first two sets, however, Cumberlands began chipping away in the third set.  Campbellsville opened the third set on a 3-1 run, however a kill from Zampedri coupled with a Juliet Banks ace tied the score at 3-3.  Savanah Jolly dished out four assists as the Patriots went on a 7-1 run to take an 10-6 advantage.  UC added a three-point run that was sparked by a Jolly kill to extend their lead to 13-7.  The Tigers battled back pulling within four points before a Grava kill sparked a 4-0 run making it 19-11.  The two teams traded points until Jolly connected with Grava twice for kills closing out the set 25-16 and cutting the deficit to 2-1.

The fourth set opened similar to the third as the Tigers jumped out to an early 6-4 advantage.  A Zampedri kill sparked 9-1 run for the Patriots putting UC in front 13-7.  Cumberlands had four different players recorded kills as part of that run.  The two teams traded points until a Rylie Depue kill made it 19-13 in favor of UC.  Campbellsville scored four unanswered points before Aleksandra Augustyniak tallied her seventh kill of the match to give UC a 22-18 edge.  Campbellsville rallied to even the score at 23-23 before Zampedri notched a kill putting UC up one. The two teamed traded points before Jolly put a well-placed serve just inside the lines to clinch the set 26-24 and force a decisive fifth set.

Cumberlands opened the fifth set with Jolly connecting with Grava for a kill before the Tigers scored three straight points to take the early lead. Grava added her second kill of the set to spark a 5-1 Patriots lead giving UC a 6-4 advantage.  The two teams traded points as Cumberlands took an 8-6 lead midway through the set on a kill from Zampedri.  Campbellsville evened the score at 10-10 before Jolly connected with Grava for a kill putting the Patriots back in front.  The match was tied one more time before the Patriots went on a 3-1 run with a pair of kills from Zampedri to take an 13-11 advantage.  Two plays later Zampedri tallied her career-best 31^st kill to clinch the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.

The MSC finals are a rematch of last year's finals in which the Patriots won 3-2.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.