LEBANON, Tenn.--Women's Volleyball opened the 2026 season in impressive fashion Friday, picking up a pair of wins on the opening day of the Phoenix Classic at the Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena. The Phoenix started the day with a straight-set victory over Rio Grande before battling past Columbia International in a five-set thriller to finish opening day with a 2-0 record.
CU opened the 2026 season with a straight-set victory over Rio Grande on Friday morning, defeating the Red Storm 25-20, 25-19, 38-36 inside the Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena.
The Phoenix offense finished the match with 50 kills while hitting .237 and added 11 service aces and five total blocks. Cumberland was especially efficient in the second set, posting 15 kills against just two errors for a .419 hitting percentage.
Regan Eigenrauch led the Cumberland attack with 17 kills on 36 swings while committing just two errors to hit .417. Carlee Rogers turned in an all-around performance with eight kills on 13 attacks without an error, hitting .615 while dishing out 33 assists and adding 11 digs and three block assists.
The Phoenix jumped out to a quick 5-1 advantage in the opening set before Rio Grande worked its way back to even the score at 8-8. Cumberland responded by gradually creating separation, using an AJ Bryant ace and a Carola Schnidrig kill to push the advantage to 14-9. The Phoenix later stretched the lead to 20-13 following an ace from Schnidrig and a kill by Eigenrauch. Rio Grande made a late push, but Hailey Jones put away the final point to close the opening set, 25-20.
The second set went back-and-forth early with the two sides tied six times through the opening 12 points. Cumberland broke the deadlock behind Kaleigh Glass at the service line. Eigenrauch registered two kills during a five-point Phoenix run while Glass added a pair of aces to give Cumberland an 11-6 advantage.
Rio Grande pulled back within one at 19-18, but Cumberland closed the set by taking six of the final seven points. Rogers and Eigenrauch each picked up kills during the closing stretch before Schnidrig finished the frame with a kill for the 25-19 win.
The third set turned into a marathon as the two teams combined for 74 points, 23 ties and 15 lead changes. Rio Grande appeared poised to extend the match after building a 22-17 advantage, but the Phoenix answered with six consecutive points to move ahead 24-23. Glass sparked the comeback from the service line with back-to-back aces while Jones supplied two kills during the run.
From there, neither side could put the set away. Cumberland and Rio Grande traded opportunities deep into extra points before the RedStorm grabbed a 36-35 advantage. Rogers answered with a kill to tie the score before Liberty Shadix recorded a block to put Cumberland back in front, 37-36. Lydia Cox then delivered an ace on match point to cap the 38-36 victory and complete the sweep.
Glass led the Phoenix defensively with 19 digs while also recording four aces and eight assists. Schnidrig posted a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs, while Jones added eight kills on a .286 hitting percentage and three block assists. Emma Chavers joined Rogers in double figures with 11 digs. Bryant chipped in three service aces and Cox added two.
Cumberland capped opening day with a five-set victory over Columbia International, rallying from a six-point deficit in the decisive fifth set to win 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13 Friday afternoon at the Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena.
Carola Schnidrig led the Phoenix with a double-double, putting down 18 kills while collecting 21 digs. Liberty Shadix was highly efficient in the middle with 10 kills on 24 attacks for a .375 hitting percentage while adding six total blocks. Carlee Rogers handed out 47 assists to go with 13 digs, while Kaleigh Glass finished with 16 digs.
Cumberland finished with 61 kills, 80 digs and eight blocks while holding Columbia International to a .148 hitting percentage. The Phoenix also created problems from the service line, finishing with 12 aces.
Lydia Cox accounted for seven of those aces without committing a service error.
The opening set featured 12 ties and eight lead changes as neither team was able to create much separation. CIU took a 22-20 advantage late, but Schnidrig responded with consecutive kills to tie the set. Two straight Rams attack errors pushed Cumberland to set point before Schnidrig delivered her seventh kill of the frame to give the Phoenix a 25-23 win.
Columbia International controlled the second set from the outset, jumping ahead 6-1 and never surrendering the lead. Cumberland cut the deficit to three on several occasions, but the Rams closed the frame with five of the final six points to even the match with a 25-19 victory.
The Phoenix responded with their best offensive set of the match in the third, hitting .344 with 16 kills. Cumberland used an early run to build a 10-4 advantage behind back-to-back aces from Cox and eventually stretched the lead to 21-13. CIU made a late push to get within one at 22-21, but Shadix stopped the run with a kill before
AJ Bryant delivered consecutive aces to finish off the set, 25-21.
CIU forced a fifth set after building a 12-5 advantage in the fourth. Cumberland battled back and cut the deficit to 24-23 following a Schnidrig kill, but Katelynn Mundy put away the next point to give the Rams a 25-23 win and send the match to a decisive fifth.
The Rams carried that momentum into the fifth and raced out to a 7-2 advantage. CIU maintained the lead through the side switch and later went ahead 13-9, putting Cumberland two points away from its first loss of the season.
The Phoenix responded with a furious finish.
A kill from Jacey Hubbell started the comeback before Shadix recorded a solo block and followed with back-to-back kills to tie the set at 13-13. Schnidrig then put Cumberland in front for the first time in the set with a kill, and Shadix teamed up with Hubbell for a block on match point to complete a six-point run and the 15-13 comeback victory.
Along with Schnidrig and Shadix, Regan Eigenrauch finished with nine kills while Hubbell and Hailey Jones each added seven. Bryant recorded three aces and 10 digs, while Emma Chavers joined Rogers with 13 digs.
Cumberland will finish up the Phoenix Classic tomorrow with two more matches. CU will take on No. 2 Eastern Oregon at 2:00 p.m. before closing with Fisk tomorrow night in the nightcap.
