BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The first upset of the Mid-South Conference volleyball tournament went to Campbellsville.  The fifth-seeded Lady Tigers held on late to win a hard-fought match over four-seed University of the Cumberlands, 3-2 (25-20, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13).

After the first three matches of the tournament went down in straight sets, Cumberlands had a different idea in the tournament's fourth match. Campbellsville took a commanding two set to none lead but allowed Cumberlands to grab all the momentum.  

The Patriots rallied in the third and fourth sets but could not dig themselves out of the deep hole, recording 33 attack errors and finishing with a hitting percentage of .117. Campbellsville finished with 29 errors and a hitting percentage of .129 but those four less errors were the difference in the match.

Jana Kortas led the Lady Tigers with 15 kills while Maria Coelho tied her career-high with 13 kills. Cumberlands' Morgan Schlatter and Megan Ganser put the team on their backs, by both recording double-doubles. Schlatter led all players with 17 kills while Ganser followed with 15.

In the first set, Cumberlands fell victim to two service errors in the first six points. Campbellsville's Brooklyn Bowling checked into the match and lit a spark under the Lady Tigers. With the score 6-5 in Campbellsville's favor, Bowling recorded three-straight aces and Campbellsville went on an 8-1 run to take a 14-6 lead and forcing Cumberlands to take its second timeout.

Cumberlands whittled the lead down slowly, as Ganser recorded three consecutive kills and helped the Patriots cut the lead to four points, 21-17. The Lady Tigers worked the game to set point, 24-17 and another costly service error by Cumberlands gave Campbellsville set one, 25-20.

The Patriots finished with six service errors in that first set and 10 overall in the match.

Set two was full of runs for both teams. CU jumped out to an 18-12 lead and looked to be in total control. Then the Patriots started their rally, going on a 7-1 run themselves. Cumberlands cut the lead to one, 19-18, after Ganser recorded two kills, and the Lady Tigers fell victim to three errors.

But Coelho recorded four of her 13 kills in the final 6-1 run CU needed to seal set two.

The Patriots came out firing their muskets in the third set and took their first lead. After CU came back and took a 9-6 lead, Cumberlands went on a 10-3 run and Campbellsville was forced to call its final timeout of the set.

The Lady Tigers had one more rally left in them, though. CU answered with a 5-2 run and cut the deficit to one, 19-18, but the Patriots closed the set, 25-19.

Cumberlands kept its momentum going in the fourth set and knotted the match at two. With the score tied at nine, Cumberlands went on a 13-4 run to take a commanding 22-13 lead and went on to win the fourth, 25-21.

The final set was a real nail-bitter. Neither team would get a lead larger than two points in the final set but that was all Campbellsville needed. Playing in possibly her last match as a Lady Tiger, Kortas delivered the big blow at the end and ended Cumberlands' season, 15-13 in set five.

Campbellsville moves on to play the winner of top-seed and regular season champion Lindsey Wilson College and the eight-seed Shawnee State University. The Bears won in straight sets over University of Pikeville in the play-in match to start the day. Tomorrow's semifinal match will start at 9 p.m. EST tomorrow night at South Warren High School in Bowling Green, Ky.

For more information of the Mid-South Conference Volleyball Tournament, click HERE.