PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Cumberland's size was too much to overcome for the University of Pikeville volleyball team on Saturday afternoon as it oublocked the Bears 14-5 on its way to a 3-0 shutout win in UPIKE Gym.

Isidora Markovic, the Phoenix's 6-3 middle, did the bulk of the damage, finishing with 11 kills at a .524 hitting percentage, along with four blocks and three digs. With her high mark leading the way, Cumberland outhit UPIKE .355 to .053 as a team.

Markovic was joined in double-digit kills by Maci Lerno with a match-high 12 and Michelle Evans chipping in with 10.

UPIKE got seven kills from Sydney Hall to lead the way, followed by six from Cassidy Tackett. Hall and Amari Eadie has two blocks each and Rachel Murphy and Kaitlyn Welsh had 13 and 12 digs, respectively.

The Bears' largest leads of the day came at the 12-7 mark of the first set and 8-3 mark of the second, but they never went up by more than five points the rest of the match. The second set was the most competitive as UPIKE trailed just 18-17 late, but was outscored 7-2 down the stretch.

On a day when UPIKE lacked size to match up, it got a lot done with its serve, tallying eight aces, compared to just one by the Phoenix. Savanna Zakman and Connor Cook led that effort with three aces each and Zakman added 21 assists.

In the end, 14 blocks and a hitting percentage over .350 was too much to contend with as the Bears failed to hit over .086 in any of the frames.

UP NEXT

UPIKE travels to Knoxville, Tenn., at 6 p.m. ET on Monday for a matchup with Johnson.

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