Lima, OH – UC Volleyball (23-3) completed a tri-match with two sweeps over Defiance (7-13) and Northwestern Ohio (13-11), on Saturday afternoon. Across the two matches, the Pats totaled 116 digs, 88 kills, 10 blocks, and 13 service aces.

Patriots Sweep Defiance, 3-0
Outside hitter, Sara Zampedri, led the Patriots in kills, marking 16 while Allyson Grava notched 12. Kendall Arnold compiled 22 assists and Juliet Banks took eight digs.

Cumberlands opened the first set down 3-2 to Defiance but shifted into a 4-3 lead with a pair of kills from Zampedri and an ace served by Juliet Banks. After the Yellowjackets evened the score at 5-5, UC went on a seven-point run, taking an 11-5 advantage. That run saw two service aces from Savanah Jolly, back-to-back kills by Zampedri and a trio of Defiance errors. A pair of Gipson kills and one kill from Grava, in addition to an attacking error on the Yellowjackets put the Pats in a steady 18-9 lead. Defiance trimmed the gap to 20-15, but kills by Zampedri, Rayne Manning, and Grava helped UC power ahead for a 25-18 set win.

In the second set, the Patriots started with a 5-1 lead, courtesy of kills by Grava, Aleksandra Augustyniak, and Gipson. The setter, Jolly, notched a kill along with Grava and a Yellowjacket error to lead 10-5. Defiance attempted to come back, taking the score to 13-12, but a pair of kills from Allison Moneypenny and Zampedri gave the Pats a 15-13 lead. The teams exchanged points until the Yellowjackets evened the set at 23-23, but an attacking error on Defiance and a kill by Alana Shiery settled the score at 25-23.

UC took a 4-3 advantage, seeing a kill from Zampedri and three Yellowjacket errors, in the third set. Defiance tied the score at 4-4, but consecutive aces served by Zampedri along with a service error on DC put the Pats up 7-4. Cumberlands pulled away with a four-point run, marking one kill apiece from Augustyniak and Zampedri with two Yellowjacket attacking errors, 15-9. Following a Defiance timeout, the Patriots extended into a 17-10 lead with a kill and a solo block recorded by Zampedri. Faith Franklin and Grava both notched a kill to put UC in a comfortable 21-12 advantage. For the final two points of the match, Grava collected a pair of kills for a final score of 25-14.

Patriots Breeze Past Northwestern Ohio, 3-0
Sara Zampedri led the Patriots in attacking, collecting 19 kills. The setter, Kendall Arnold, totaled team highs of 20 assists and 18 digs.

Cumberlands tallied kills from both Grava and Augustyniak with an ace by Arnold to start the first set in a 4-1 lead. The score shifted to 13-10 in favor of the Racers until they committed four consecutive attacking errors and Gipson notched a kill and put UC in the lead, 14-13. Three more UNOH errors and a Zampedri kill gave the Patriots a stronger 21-17 advantage. To complete the set at 25-17, Northwestern Ohio marked three attacking errors and Zampedri collected a kill.

The second set saw the Pats with a 4-1 lead off kills by Augustyniak and Zampedri in addition to a pair of Racer errors. Cumberlands pulled ahead with one kill apiece from Grava, Augustyniak, and Gipson, 12-7. UNOH rallied to level the score at 18-18, but after a UC timeout, the Patriots notched two points off a Grava kill and service error on the Racer, 20-19. After swapping points, Davey Slaughter recorded a service ace followed by a Zampedri kill for a second set score of 26-24.

UC opened the third set 4-2, notching two kills from Zampedri and one by Augustyniak. After the Racers evened the score at 6-6, three kills tallied by Moneypenny, Arnold, and Grava, gave the Pats a 10-7 advantage. An attacking error accompanied by an ace served by Zampedri and a pair of Grava kills put Cumberlands in a strong 18-13 lead. Northwestern Ohio trimmed the deficit to 22-20, but three straight kills from Zampedri locked the Patriots in a 25-20 win.

UC Volleyball (RV) will travel to Bethel for a Mid-South Conference match on Friday October 4^th, at 6 p.m.

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.