Berea, KY – UC Volleyball (RV) remains undefeated at 16-0 after collecting two wins over Berea College, 3-1 (1-3) and Johnson University, 3-1 (6-1) in a tri-match on Saturday afternoon. The Pats compiled 124 kills, 121 assists, 22 service aces, and five blocks throughout the two matches.
Cumberlands Battles for Win Over Berea, 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 25-21)
Across the four sets,
Allyson Grava led the Patriots with 21 kills and two aces.
Kendall Arnold marked 25 assists while
Juliet Banks notched 25 digs.
The Pats opened the match with a close 25-23 win in the first set over the Mountaineers. After exchanging points back and forth, UC broke away with an 8-4 lead off a pair of Augusytniak service aces and kills by
Sara Zampedri and
Faith Franklin. Berea tied the score at 15-15, but two consecutive kills from Grava put the Pats up 17-15. Following a three-point Mountaineer run to even the set at 21-21, two Grava kills and one by Franklin secured the first-set win.
After dropping the second set, Cumberlands fought for a 25-22 win in the fourth. Berea took the first points of the set, 2-0, and led the Pats 8-3 before two consecutive kills by setter,
Savanah Jolly, and a kill from both Grava and
Davey Slaughter helped trim the deficit to 9-8. UC shifted into a 17-15 lead as Franklin marked a kill and
Ryann Livingston aced the Mountaineers. Two kills from
Allison Moneypenny sealed the set at 25-22 in favor of the Patriots.
In the fourth and final set, the two teams swapped the lead for the majority, until Grava and Gipson tallied consecutive kills to reach for a 17-15 advantage. A three-point run comprised of a Franklin kill, a Mountaineer attacking error, and an ace served by Augustyniak put UC up 21-18. Grava finished the set at 25-21 with a kill.
Cumberlands Tallies 16th Season Win, Defeating the Royals, 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17)
Outside hitter,
Allyson Grava, notched 21 kills for the second match of the day and
Sara Zampedri marked 13.
Kendall Arnold collected 25 assists and
Savanah Jolly followed with 21. On defense, the libero,
Juliet Banks, had 21 digs, while
Davey Slaughter marked 15.
The first set consisted of an opening lead of 3-2 with kills by
Kara Gipson and Zampedri, in addition to an attacking error on the Royals. Johnson pulled ahead, but a
Faith Franklin kill tied the score at 7-7. A four-point run saw the Patriots lead 12-9, courtesy of a kill by the setter, Jolly, consecutive kills from Grava, and an ace served by
Ryann Livingston. To extend UC's advantage,
Aleksandra Augustyniak and Zampedri tallied one kill apiece and Grava followed with back-to-back service aces, 20-14. The Cumberlands defense held off the Royals, enabling a kill from Zampedri and a Johnson attacking error to complete the set at 25-19.
The Patriots started the third set with a 4-3 lead off kills from Grava and
Allison Moneypenny, after dropping the second set. Grava and
Jori Dowling notched a pair of kills each to score four consecutive points for a 12-7 lead in favor of UC. Zampedri helped extend the lead to 19-13 with a kill and an ace. To take the Patriot advantage to 22-17, Grava and Rylie DePue tallied kills. Dowling marked the final kill of the set, for a 25-21 win.
The fourth set saw the teams trading points until Cumberlands took a 6-5 lead on an attacking error by Johnson. The Pats were up 11-6, capitalizing on three Royal errors, along with a kill from Zampedri and a Slaughter service ace. UC broke away with three consecutive kills by Dowling and Zampedri for a 21-12 lead. Two errors on Johnson ended the match with a fourth set win of 25-17.
UC will host Georgetown for their first Mid-South Conference matchup on Tuesday September 10
th at 7 p.m. in Williamsburg, KY.
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