Kokomo, IN – The tenth-ranked Cumberlands volleyball team earned their second top-ten win of the season defeating #9 Mount Vernon Nazarene 3-2 (25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 24-26, 15-8), before closing out the tournament with a 3-1 win over Marian (25-17, 19-25, 25-22, 27-25) Saturday night. With the wins, the close out the weekend unbeaten and improve to 9-1 overall on the year.
Brynnley Bryant led the way with 42 kills, including a career-high 24 kills against the Cougars and 23 digs.
Sara Zampedri added 28 kills and 33 digs on the day, while
Morgan Bentel tallied 34 digs.
Savanah Jolly dished out 95 assists to go along with 21 digs.
Alana Shiery and
Martina Frangella combined for 28 kills and seven blocks.
Bryant Records Career Performance in 3-2 win over #9 Cougars
Brynnley Bryant tallied a career-high 24 kills, 14 digs and a pair of aces to pace the way for UC. In addition to being a career-high, its tied for the sixth most kills in a match in program history.
Sara Zampedri added 15 kills and 15 digs, while
Alana Shiery and Josie Necom combined for 21 kills in the match. Savannah Jolly dished out 52 assists and 13 digs, while
Morgan Bentel notched a team-high 18 digs.
Cumberlands set the tone early jumping out to a 5-1 lead behind a trio of assists from
Savanah Jolly. A few plays later
Brynnley Bryant connected with a pair of kills, extending UC's lead to 9-3.
Sara Zampedri notched a kill before Jolly hit a well placed serve for an ace making it 14-8. A couple plays later,
Alana Shiery and Bryant converted consecutive kills giving UC the 18-12 advantage. The two teams traded points as
Kaytlynn Collier connected with
Martina Frangella for a kill before Jolly converted her second ace of the set giving Cumberlands the first set 25-19.
Mount Vernon Nazarene jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the second set, however, a kill from Bryant tied the score at 5-5. The Cougars took and 8-6 advantage before Bryant rattled off three straight kills giving UC the lead 9-8. The Cougars led by as many as six points, however, UC stormed back on a 5-1 run, capped off with a kill by Zampedri to cut the deficit to 21-20. After a Mount Vernon timeout, Cumberlands utilized strong serves from Bryant and a Zampedri kill to complete the rally to take the set 25-21 and extend the lead to 2-0.
In highly contested sets, the Cougars took the third set 25-23 and the fourth set 26-24 to force a fifth set.
The fifth set was tied twice before Mount Vernon Nazarene took a 5-3 lead. UC responded with a kill and a block from Bryant putting UC in front 6-5. Cumberlands followed that up with a five-point run, capped off with a kill from Martina Fragella to take an 11-6 advantage. The Patriots closed out the set on a 4-1 run with kills from Zampedri and
Josie Newcom taking the set 15-8 and the match 3-2.
Patriots Outlast Marian to Earn 3-1 Win
Brynnley Bryant paced the way for Cumberlands with 18 kills and nine digs, while
Sara Zampedri notched her fourth consecutive double-double with 13 kills and a team-high 18 digs.
Josie Newcom added nine kills, while
Savanah Jolly tallied 43 assists, four kills, and two aces.
Morgan Bentel notched 16 digs, while
Martina Frangella made a team-high four blocks.
The two teams traded points to open the match until an
Alana Shiery kill sparked a four-point giving UC the 5-2 lead. The Knights tied the score twice before UC notched back-to-back kills from Bryant and Zampedri to take a 13-10 lead. Cumberlands went on 8-1 run that included a pair of blocks before being capped off with a kill from Frangella to make it 22-13. Jolly closed out the set with an ace to give UC the set 25-17 and the 1-0 lead.
Marian tied the score at 1-1 after winning the second set 25-19.
UC jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set behind a pair of assists from
Morgan Bentel. After the Knight tallied seven straight points, UC responded with a 4-1 run that featured a kill from
Faith Pollard to cut the deficit to 11-10. Marian remained in front until Newcom and Bryant tallied back-to-back kills giving Cumberlands a 17-16 advantage. The two teams continued to traded points as Zampedri notched an ace before Bryant closed out the set with a kill giving the Patriots the set 25-22 and a 2-1 lead.
Marian jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the fourth set, however, UC responded with a 7-1 that included four kills to take an 11-8 edge. The two teams traded points until a kill from Bryant put UC in front 18-17. The set was tied six more times before Bentel notched consecutive aces giving Cumberlands the set 27-25 and the 3-1 final.
The Patriots return to the court Friday, September 4
th, when they host the Cumberland Invite. UC will face Bethel (IN) at 3 p.m. with live video available
here.
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