MARIETTA, Ga. – Cumberland’s Women (6-13, 3-4 Mid-South Conference) went 1-1 in games against Life University and Bryan College. The Phoenix won 3: 1 against Life (19: 6, 5: 2 MSC) and fell 3: 0 against Bryan College (16: 2).
Cumberland 3, Life University 1The Phenix started the first set, which coincided point by point with the Running Eagles. Back-to-back kills by Maddie Perez and Lauren Galvan brought the score to 7-7. Cumberland heated up and took a 6-3 lead to take a 13-10 lead after Life made several offensive mistakes. Perez and Victoria Johnson hit two large spikes to give the Phoenix a 17-14 lead over life. Cumberland won the set 25-19 after Sadie Edmonston tied three aces in a row to end the set.
The Cumberland Women played well in the third set. Madison Dinwiddie recorded two kills that helped the Phoenix take an early 5-3 lead. Victoria Johnson gave Cumberland a three point lead with a big swing to establish a 9-6 over life. Jovna Cernjanski hit a service ace to give the Phoenix a 15-8 lead after a 6-2 run. Cumberland rose between 18 and 12, but Life came back and tied the set together at 19. The Phoenix drove another 6-2 run, crowned by a Victoria Johnson service ace, and won the second set 25-21.
The third set didn’t go so well for the Phoenix. Cumberland started the set in a 4-1 hole for Life. The Phoenix cut the Running Eagle 5-4 after a kill by Samantha Holguin. Life took a 9-6 lead over Cumberland, but three direct kills from freshman Lauren Galvan brought the set to 9 points. The two teams traded points up to the 16 point mark when Life ran a 9-5 run to win the second set 25-21.
The Phoenix got off to a solid start in the fourth set and took an 8-3 lead. However, the Running Eagles fought back and took the lead 10: 7. Cumberland found their stand and after a service ace from Sadie Edmontson, the Phoenix led 15-9. Life returned to the game after an excellent 18-17 offensive. Attack errors by the Running Eagles gave the Phoenix a 22-20 lead. A kill by Lauren Galvan and a mistake by Life gave the Phoenix a 25:22 win and a 3-1 win over RV Life.
As a team, Cumberland recorded 51 kills, surpassing Life’s 47. The Phoenix achieved a hit percentage of 0.154, 46 assists and 83 digs in four sets. Both teams also posted eight service aces.
Lauren Galvan led the kills for the Phoenix with 12 kills in four games. Maddie Perez and Nicole Carey were also double digits with 10 kills. Sadie Edmontson had a pretty good defensive game for the Phoenix. The junior recorded 24 digs and also threw in four service aces offensively. Victoria Johnson led the squad with 22 assists, Bianca Rodriguez with 18 chips.
Cumberland 0, Bryan College 3Cumberland started the first set against Bryan with a quick 3-2 lead after a kill by Nicole Carey. The Lions struggled and jumped 11-7 ahead of the phoenix. Bryan’s lead rose to 15-9 over Cumberland until a specified mistake by the Lions brought the phoenix back within five minutes.
Bianca Rodriguez hit two back-to-back service aces to bring the Phoenix back within two minutes between 5pm and 3pm. The Cumberland Women fought back to bring the set to 20. Bryan College made a 5-2 run to close the set at 25:22.
After three direct mistakes by the Lions, the Phoenix achieved a 6-2 lead over the Lions in the second set. Bryan College returned to the game after a 6-2 run against Cumberland to end the setup at eight. Lauren Galvan and Maddie Perez’s kills gave the Phoenix an 11-8 lead over the Lions. Bryan fought back and tied Cumberland at 12. The teams exchanged points until the Phoenix took a 3-0 lead and took a 20-17 lead with a Bianca Rodriguez service ace. Cumberland was 23:20 ahead of Bryan, but a 5-0 run by the Lions earned them the set 25:23.
The third set was similar to the first when the Phoenix took the lead 4-3 over the Lions. The two teams exchanged points until the Phoenix jumped out 10-7 ahead of Bryan after a kill by Samantha Holguin. Cumberland fell back after Bryan took a 7-0 lead and took a 14-10 lead. The Phoenix struggled and eventually took a 20:19 lead over the Lions after Nicole Carey struck a big blow. Cumberland was 24-23 ahead of Bryan but gave up three direct points to lose the set 26:24 and the match 3-0.
As a team, Cumberland recorded 42 kills in three sets, four more than Bryan College’s 38. What hurt the Phoenix were the 23 attack errors they logged, eight more than the Lions 18. The Phoenix also recorded more digs (68) and assists (38) than the Lions that day, but failed to claim victory.
Specifically, Nicole Carey was in the lead with 11 kills while only making one mistake. Sydney Pearce, Lauren Galvan, and Maddie Perez each got seven kills. On the defensive for the Phoenix, Sadie Edmontson recorded a team high of 18 digs. Jovana Cernjanski and Victoria Johnson also posted double-digit numbers with ten each. Bianca Rodriguez led the entire Phoenix with 18 assists, followed by Johnson with 15.
Cumberland is expected to be on Saturday at 4pm in Henderson in a Mid-South Conference matchup against Freed-Hardeman.
Makeup date for CU in Shawnee State March 21st
Cumberland Women’s Volleyball announced its makeup date with Shawnee State on March 21st at 1:00 p.m. CDT in Portsmouth, Ohio.
The Phoenix was originally scheduled to leave for Portsmouth on February 19th, but that match was canceled due to the ice storm.
Comments are closed.