The University of the Cumberlands volleyball team wrapped up their season this weekend at the Mid-South Conference Tournament. The Patriots traveled to Louisville, KY on Thursday for the awards ceremony and then game play which began on Friday with the championship game to be held on Saturday. Cumberlands had nine Academic All-Conference members, three Second Team All-Conference winners, and one First Team All-Conference honoree.

On Friday Cumberlands faced off with West Virginia Tech to start the tournament. Getting off to a quick start the Patriots came out with a commanding lead. Cumberlands was not satisfied to play anything but their style of volleyball and WV Tech had no choice but to follow along. Taran Johnson and Lauren Taylor both had seven kills and Liz Bowling followed close behind with six. Kaylyn Suttles dug up eight balls from deep center with Aslean White and Anna Clemenz digging up five. To open the game White also served an 11-point streak. The Patriots did not have to work too hard to clench the win, but rather tried to focus on minimizing mistakes in preparation for playing Georgetown College. Cumberlands took the win game scores ending: 30-14, 30-6, and 30-10.

After a short break Cumberlands prepared for their second game of the evening this time against Georgetown College. Besides winning the tournament one of the other major goals Cumberlands had was to beat Georgetown College. The athletic skill of both of these teams almost mirrors each other, but it really comes down to smarter game play on the part of either team. As game play began Cumberlands and Georgetown kept scores relatively close and both proved to be worthy opponents of each other.

However, Georgetown brought a little more and was able to win the first two games: 30-20 and 30-19. After a short break between games the Patriots got a little more focused and adjusted their game plan. The Patriots lead Georgetown for the first half of the game with Kaylyn Suttles digging up fourteen balls, Bowling putting up nine assists, and Anna Clemenz putting down ten kills. Sumyr Knight also contributed nine digs from the back row and two kills. Cumberlands narrowly lost the final match 31-29.

Cumberlands placed 7th in the Region for the 2006 season and ended their season with a 22-17 overall record.

Article Provided by George Boles, University of the Cumberlands Sports Information Student Assistant