LEBANON, Tenn. ---- The Life University women's volleyball team moved into a tie for second in the Mid-South Conference standings with a 3-2 road victory over Cumberland University Friday afternoon.
NOTES
• Life U improved to 26-9 (10-5) on the year as Cumberland dropped to 11-16.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
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Lena Pucnik totaled a season-high 24 kills and 19 digs with a pair of service errors. The sophomore finished with a hitting percentage of .417 with two block assists.
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Caitlyn Neal added 10 kills with three block assists and a service ace.
Brie Montgomery finished with 20 assists and a service ace with seven digs.
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Kennedy Neal picked up 23 assists with three service aces and eight digs as
Marin Black totaled 26 assists and two service aces.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Cumberland jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the first set. Three errors and an ace from Pucnik cut the lead to two, 10-8. The Phoenix answered with an 8-2 run to lead 18-10. Life U responded with a 7-1 run to again cut the lead to one, however the early deficit proved to be too much as Cumberland took the first set 25-22.
• Life U used an early 5-1 run to lead 9-6 as Zimmerman found the floor for the kill. A 5-0 run from Cumberland gave the Phoenix the lead until a 7-2 run put the Running Eagles ahead 17-13 with the ace from K. Neal. Life U finished the set on a 4-0 run as C. Neal and Zimmerman ended the set 25-17 with a block.
• Life U never trailed in the third set as the Running Eagles began to click offensively. Leading by ten or more for a majority of the set, Life U won the third 25-14.
• Life U held an early 10-7 lead over Cumberland in the fourth set as Mollick picked up the kill. Cumberland used a 7-2 run to take the lead 14-12 before kills from Furness and C. Neal tied the set. The Phoenix took the fourth set with a 7-2 run, 25-18, to force a fifth set.
• Life U led 6-3 early in set five, but a pair of kills from Cumberland cut the lead to one. Pucnik and Louis added kills as an attack error put the Running Eagles ahead 9-5. A 4-1 run for Life U was finished with the kill from C. Neal to put the Running Eagles on set point, 14-9. Three consecutive attack errors put the Phoenix within two, but Zimmerman and C. Neal provided the match-winning block, 15-12, to give the Running Eagles the key MSC win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Life U led Cumberland in every statistical category as the Running Eagles finished with 54 kills to the 50 from the Phoenix. Life U finished with a hitting percentage of .226 as Cumberland finished .144.
• Life U led Cumberland 7-5 in blocks. The Running Eagles also held an 11-3 advantage in service aces over the Phoenix.
• Life U edged Cumberland in assists 52-48 and 76-67 in digs.
UP NEXT
• The women's volleyball team will conclude the regular season on the road Saturday, April 3, as they travel to Pikeville, KY to face the University of Pikeville at 1 PM.
