Frankfort, KY – The Patriots (14-0) topped Kentucky State with their eighth sweep of the season, 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-15), on Thursday afternoon. Cumberlands compiled 49 kills across the three sets and held the Thorobreds to just 25. In addition, UC totaled 48 digs, five service aces, and three blocks.

On the court, Allyson Grava led the Patriots with 15 kills and an attacking percentage of .500. Kara Gipson followed with a .615 attacking percentage and eight kills. Savanah Jolly tallied 20 assists, while Kendall Arnold marked 16. Defensively, Juliet Banks took 12 digs and Aleksandra Augustyniak totaled 10.

Cumberlands opened the first set with a 10-4 advantage, courtesy of a five-point run that saw one kill apiece from Sara Zampedri, Faith Franklin, and Allyson Grava and two errors on the Thorobreds. Kentucky State tried to shorten the gap, 12-10, but an ace served by Zampedri, a kill from both Kara Gipson and Rayne Manning, and a service error put the Pats up 16-13. UC capitalized on three Kentucky State errors and a pair of Grava kills to secure the first set at 25-19.

The second set saw a strong 7-3 lead for the Patriots, marking two kills by both Gipson and Franklin, one from Zampedri, and three Thorobred errors. Franklin aced Kentucky State and Grava notched a kill to strengthen the lead to 10-4. A Davey Slaughter ace and kills from Grava, Gipson, Augustyniak, and Zampedri took the score to 16-8. Grava tallied a kill and Slaughter followed with another service ace to notch the last two points of the second set, 25-12.

The Pats came from behind in the third set, with Augustyniak leveling the score at 4-4 with a kill. From there, UC rallied ahead with two five-point runs. On the first run for a 6-4 lead, Gipson, Augustyniak, and Jolly notched one kill apiece to pair with two Kentucky State errors. To follow, Augustyniak and Grava marked kills and Slaughter served an ace to stretch the Patriots into an 11-5 advantage. Outside hitter, Grava, notched three more kills while Jolly and Augustyniak both took one to lead the Thorobreds, 19-11. Allison Moneypenny and Alana Shiery tallied kills to close the match with a third set win of 25-15.

Cumberlands (RV) will travel to Berea, KY to play Johnson University and Berea College in a tri-match on Saturday August 7^th at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

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