St. Louis, Mo.-- Women’s volleyball splits day two of the Spartan Invite with a win over St. Ambrose University and a loss to No. 4 Missouri Baptist University.

Cumberland 3, St. Ambrose 1

The Phoenix were off to a strong start with a 4-0 serving run by Nicole Bott. Cumberland played powerfully at the net, hitting a .367 attack percentage as a team, helping them to hold down the lead for the entire set. They spread their advantage as far as five points at the 12-7 scoreboard. The Fighting Bees found some late-set energy and fought hard to reverse the momentum, cutting the Phoenix lead down to two at the 23-21 point. Cumberland was able to protect their lead and come out with a 25-22 win.

St. Ambrose started set two with a 5-0 run, forcing the Phoenix to take an early timeout. Harlee Kate Reid and Hazel Konkel combined for back-to-back blocks to cut the disadvantage down to three points at 10-7. The Phoenix went on a five point run of their own to tie up the match at 15-15. Lauren Galvan gave Cumberland their first lead of the set with a sharp cut down the line. It was a close race down to the end but back-to-back kills from the Bees ended it in their favor, going into extra points at 26-24. 

The Phoenix trailed behind for the majority of the third set, fighting to recover the early 3-0 advantage of St. Ambrose. Cumberland took their first lead of the match at 18-17 with Nicole Bott serving and Luciana Arena closed for two huge blocks to extend it by three points. From there, the Phoenix were able to hold it down and take the set with a 25-22 score.

Cumberland took control of the fourth set and remained in power for large portions until a 4-0 run on the St. Ambrose side gave them their first lead of the set. From that point on it was a back-and-forth fight but a late five point run from the Phoenix allowed them to finish out the set strong with a score of 25-19.

Cumberland 1, No. 4 Missouri Baptist 3

Hazel Konkel recorded an outstanding 12 blocks in the match. Harlee Kate Reid led her attackers with nine kills, while Shea Moore and Reid each added 15 digs.

The Phoenix were able to collect an early lead with a three point service run from Bianca Rodriquez, during which Hazel Konkel put away two blocks. The Spartans responded with 6-0 run, giving them their first major lead of the set and forcing the Phoenix to recollect in a timeout. Cumberland was unable to recover the deficit and dropped the set with a 25-15 score. 

Izzy Curcio earned the first two points of set two with a kill and a shutdown block, but the Spartans quickly countered with some high energy and reclaimed the momentum. Missouri Baptist went on another 5-0 run, assisted by a few Phoenix errors at the net. Nicole Bott was able to tie up the match at 13-13 with a five point run of her own. Back-to-back kills from Luciana Arena gave the Phoenix the advantage for the first time in the set. It was a tight race to point 25 in a point-for-point style of play, but the Spartans were able to take it with a 25-22 score having three aces in a row.

The Phoenix came into set three with some intensity, getting a 3-0 start during which Layla Wandel picked up a kill and a block. The Phoenix played clean defense and were unstoppable at the net, extending the lead to eleven points with a 15-4 score. The deficit proved to be too much for the Spartans to come back from and the Phoenix took the set with a score of 25-13. Cumberland hit a fantastic .424 attack percentage as a team. 

Missouri Baptist went on an early 6-0 run to start set four. Arena ended the run with a huge swing from behind Tori Johnson. The Phoenix struggled to string up enough points to take a lead in the set and trailed behind Missouri Baptist for the rest of the game. The Spartans took the set and ended the game with a 25-15 score.