WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. -- The University of Pikeville volleyball team started slow with a 25-10 loss in the first set before making things very interesting at Cumberlands in the second and third. But kills were hard to come by for the Bears as they ultimately fell 3-0 on Thursday night.

While the Patriots won their seventh straight match and improved to 19-6 overall and 8-3 in Mid-South Conference play, UPIKE falls to 15-13 overall and 2-9 in league play.

The offense just didn't have it, hitting -.028 for the match with the leading attacker finishing with just six kills in Cassidy Tackett. After that, Connor Cook and Amari Eadie were next on the leaderboard with just four kills each. Tackett added two blocks to stand out for the Bears, while Savanna Zakman dished out 17 assists and found 12 digs.

On the other side, Cumberlands posted a .250 hitting percentage with Megan Ganser and Jennifer Philpot leading the way with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Ganser added five blocks, four digs and an ace while hitting a gaudy .688, finishing 11-of-16 on the attack with no errors.

UPIKE was never in the opening set, but found itself with a late 18-17 lead in the second. It was the only frame that the Bears hit a positive percentage as a team, but an 8-2 Cumberlands run spoiled the chance. The Bears were similarly down just 16-14 in the third set, but got outscored 9-5 the rest of the way to end it.   

UP NEXT

UPIKE hosts Kentucky Christian at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday in UPIKE Gym for senior night.

-UPIKE-