CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – A strong offensive lineup of Annija Abolina, Katie Johnson, Julia Fonseca, and Maria Coelho led the Lady Tigers to their first Mid-South Conference win of the season, 3-1, over Cumberland University.
 
Abolina led the Lady Tigers with 17 kills, while Johnson, Fonesca and Coelho had 11 each.
 
Cumberland out-killed Campbellsville 60-55, but the Phoenix finished with a hitting percentage of .192 compared to the Lady Tigers .235.
 
Campbellsville quickly found their niche in tonight's match, taking the lead at 1-0 with a set score of 25-20. Lady Tigers jumped out to a 10-4 lead and eventually pushed their lead to five, 14-9. Cumberland would then rally and cut the Lady Tigers lead to one, 19-18, with a 9-5 run. But Campbellsville would answer right back with a run of its own, 6-2, and took set one with back-to-back kills by Johnson and Abolina.
 
In the second set, the Lady Tigers got down by their biggest deficit 18-15, but Campbellsville would end up going on a 10-3 run to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Abolina and Stone had two kills apiece, while Cumberland was unable to put away attacks with four errors in the decisive run giving the Lady Tigers the set 25-21.
 
Cumberland would steal the third set 25-23. Campbellsville's largest lead was at two on eight separate occasions, the last one was a 20-18 advantage. But Isidora Markovic brought the Phoenix back to a 20-all tie. The two teams would lock up again at 22 before Cumberland scored three of the next four points – two of those off Lady Tiger attacking errors.
 
The fourth set was much like the first, another back-and-forth rally. Campbellsville took a 15-11 lead and eventually pushed that to 20-16, but Cumberland wouldn't go down without a fight, scoring five of the next six points and forcing coach Amy Zink to call a timeout. Out of the timeout Abolina and Johnson delivered consecutive kills, but Amanda Worrell delivered a kill and Jena Goodman picked up the Phoenix' sixth ace of the match, knotting the set at 23. But Goodman faltered on the next serve with an error and on the ensuing rally Michelle Evans hit the antenna to give the Lady Tigers a 25-23 victory and the match.
 
Inoa Fields led the Lady Tigers with 50 assists – just the second time surpassing 50 this season – and Jessie Pendleton had 31 digs. In addition, Fields recorded her ninth double-double in 11 matches, while Savannah Moss pitched in with 15 digs. Speaking of double-doubles, Johnson missed her third of the season, finishing with 11 kills and nine digs.
 
Markovic and Worrell led the Phoenix with 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Maci Lerno, who came in leading Cumberland in kills this season with 162, finished with nine tonight.
 
Campbellsville will return to the Powell Athletic Center on Saturday, Sept. 10 as it hosts conference foe Life University. First serve is scheduled for the doubleheader at 1 p.m. ET. Live video and live stats will be available.