BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ---- The No. 5 seeded Life University women's volleyball team took down No. 4 seed Cumberland University in five sets to advance to the Mid-South Conference Tournament semifinals for the third time in five years.
NOTES
• Life U improved to 20-10 on the year, as Cumberland finishes the season 22-14.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
•
Lena Pucnik and
Zykeria Allen led the way offensively with 15 kills each. Pucnik recorded no errors to hit .417 in the match.
• Zimmerman also finished in double figures with 11 and hit .421.
Caitlyn Neal added 10 kills with a service ace
•
Marin Black led the team with 22 digs as
Alia Dorland tallied 14.
Taylor Parrish finished with a match-high 40 assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Life U came out of the gates early in the first set with an 11-3 lead. Cumberland didn't have an answer to the offensive pressure as Life U took the first set 25-17 with the final kill from Allen.
• Life U continued the offensive success and led 12-7 early in set two. The Running Eagles then went on a 7-2 run to lead 19-10. A 12-3 Cumberland run tied the set at 22. Life U led 24-22 before Cumberland finished the set on a 5-1 run to tie the match.
• Life U led early once again in set three up 7-3 with a kill from Zimmerman. Cumberland cut the lead to one as both teams went back and forth until a 3-0 Life U run was finished by Pucnik to lead 15-11. Trailing late in the set 24-22, Cumberland responded with two of its own to tie the set. A kill from Pucnik and an attack error gave Life U a 2-1 advantage in the match.
• Cumberland responded in the fourth set with an early 12-4 lead. Life U cut the lead to three multiple times throughout the set, however the early deficit proved too difficult to overcome as Cumberland tied the match with a 25-20 win in set four.
• In the fifth set, both teams traded the lead, but kills from Allen and Pucnik put Life U ahead 7-5. Cumberland responded with a 3-0 run to go into the switch up a point. Allen answered back with a pair of kills and an attack error put Life U up 10-8. Zimmerman added a kill and a block as another attacking error and Allen kill put Life U on match point 14-9. The Phoenix were able to manage a 2-0 run before Allen shut the door with a kill to take the set 15-11 and the match.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Life U edged Cumberland in kills 63-57. Life U finished with a hitting percentage of .259 as Cumberland finished with a .150.
• Cumberland led Life U in aces 4-1 and blocks 9-8.
• Both teams finished with 70 digs.
UP NEXT
• The women's volleyball team advance to face No. 10 nationally ranked and No. 1 seeded Lindsey Wilson College in the MSC Semifinals on Friday, November 15 at 6:30 PM EST.
