PORTSMOUTH – Volleyball took sole possession of fifth place in the Mid-South Conference with a 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23) win against the University of the Cumberlands. The Bears (17-13, 9-8 MSC) used dominating wins in the first and third games against the Patriots (17-9, 8-8 MSC) to highlight their performance.

The win also reverses a 3-0 defeat that the Bears were dealt by UC earlier in the season. The Bears now have one more MSC victory than the Patriots this season and are even in the loss column. A win by the Bears on Senior Night this Thursday against Rio Grande would force Cumberlands to win out against Campbellsville and Lindsey Wilson to force a tie for fifth in the conference.

Paige Zelich led the Bear attack on Saturday afternoon with a match-high 14 kills while Tiffany Jackson added 11 kills in the win. As a team, the Bears hit .245 for the match while holding Cumberlands to just a .053 hitting mark in the contest. This strong defensive effort from the Bears included negative hitting percentages from UC in the final two games. Hannah Gephart finished the match with 26 assists while Bonnie Huesing added 17 more on the afternoon.

Defensively, the Bears had two players finish with double figure dig totals. Carly Mazza led the team with 14 digs while Madison Smith added 13 more. The Bears also blocked 12 UC attacks on the day while the Patriots tallied just one block on the afternoon.

Two solo block and five block assists from Kristi Humble – both of which were team highs – gave her a total of seven blocks on the afternoon. Lauren Helbig also recorded a solo block to go along with four block assists. Tiffany Jackson added four block assists while Devan Scarberry recorded three block assists.

The Bears will now close the regular season this coming Thursday at home against Rio Grande. That match will begin at 7 p.m. The team will also be honoring the three members of its senior class during that night.