Milligan, TN – UC Volleyball improved to 6-0 after winning two games on the first day of the Milligan Mountain Madness Tournament over Shawnee State (2-2) and Union (0-2), on Friday afternoon. The Pats combined for 103 kills, 104 digs, 19 aces, five blocks.

UC Stretches to Defeat Shawnee State, 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 15-12)
Outside hitter, Allyson Grava, notched 19 kills to pave the way for UC, while Aleksandra Augustyniak and Sara Zampedri recorded nine kills each. Juliet Banks marked 17 digs and Savanah Jolly tallied 24 assists, along with 17 assists from Kendall Yarber. Davey Slaughter aced the Bears three times across the five sets.

After falling to Shawnee State in the first set, UC bounced back to win set two, 25-18. The Patriots were down 6-3 until Augustyniak ignited a five-point run with a kill and an ace followed by a kill from both Savanah Jolly and Grava, to lead 8-6. The Bears shifted into a 16-14 advantage, but Cumberlands fought to tie the score at 16-16 with a Shawnee State attacking error and another service ace by Augustyniak. From there, UC took the lead with stellar defense and a pair of errors on the Bears, two kills from Faith Franklin, a Grava ace, and back-to-back kills by Kara Gipson and Sara Zampedri, 25-18.

Cumberlands utilized their momentum to win the third set of the match, 25-23. Capitalizing on Shawnee State errors, the Pats took a quick 6-3 lead. The Bears retaliated and moved into the lead at 18-13, but UC climbed their way back up with two kills by Augustyniak, one from Grava and Alana Shiery, and an ace served by Slaughter, 18-18. A pair of kills by Grava, one from Zampedri, and two Bears' errors saw the Patriots into their final 25-23 lead.

The Patriots dropped the fourth set but pulled through for a 15-12 win in the fifth. UC faced a quick 6-3 deficit, but Grava and Gipson tallied two kills each to tie the set at 8-8. An attack error by Shawnee State enabled Cumberlands to take a 9-8 lead. Two kills by Grava and one from both Gipson and Zampedri finalized the win for the Patriots.
 
UC Cleanly Sweeps the Bulldogs, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-17)
Allyson Grava led the team with 13 kills and Kara Gipson followed with 11 and an attacking percentage of .526. Three Patriots, Kendall Arnold, Grava, and Gipson recorded two aces a piece. Juliet Banks tallied 18 digs, while Arnold marked 17 assists.

The Pats opened the first set with a quick 5-2 lead on kills by Gipson and Grava, in addition to three Union attacking errors in a row. After the Bulldogs caught up to tie the score at 8-8, two kills from Sara Zampedri and Aleksandra Augustyniak sent UC to a 10-8 lead. Cumberlands defense held Union and enabled the Patriots to grow their lead to 18-13, seeing two kills from Grava, and one from Augustyniak, Gipson, and Franklin. Arnold completed the 25-17 set with a service ace.

In the second set, the Bulldogs took the first two points, but three consecutive kills from Zampedri, Gipson, and Augustyniak put UC in a 3-2 lead. After exchanging points, Faith Franklin tied the set at 7-7 with a kill assisted by Grava. The Pats fell behind, 17-15, but a four-point run saw two kills from Grava, one by Franklin, and an attacking error on the Bulldogs, for a 19-17 Cumberlands lead. Three Union errors along with an ace served by Augustyniak and a kill hit by Zampedri ended the set in a 25-20 Patriot win.

UC completed the sweep of Union with a third-set score of 25-17. On four consecutive points to open the set, Gipson recorded a kill, while Grava recorded two and Banks notched an ace, 5-3. The Bulldogs held an 11-9 lead, when Gipson marked a pair of kills and capitalized on Union's errors to even the score at 12-12. From this point, the Patriots drove the score to 20-15. Pushing towards the end, Rayne Manning tallied a service ace, while Franklin and Gipson recorded kills and Arnold closed the match with another service ace.

The Patriots will continue Milligan Mountain Madness Tournament play on Saturday August 24^th with matches against Milligan and Blue Mountain at 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. in Milligan, TN.

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.