LEBANON, Tenn. – The Campbellsville Tigers traveled to Lebanon, Tennessee, to take on Cumberland University and the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis on Saturday afternoon. Campbellsville swept the Phoenix in three straight sets and took down UHSP in four, 3-1.
GAME ONE: Campbellsville 3, Cumberland 0
Pedro Zavatini earned the first point of set one with a kill for the Tigers. Three straight points from Cumberland put the Phoenix in an early 3-1 lead. The set stayed evenly matched, with the teams hitting point-for-point until the Tigers took a two-point lead, 24-22. One last kill from Denzel Madrigal gave the Tigers the win in set one, 25-23.
Much like the first set, the second stayed pretty evenly matched for points. Kills from John-Marcos Gonzalez, JoVeaun Banks, Zavatini, and Madrigal helped the Tigers. Trevor Gruner hit three kills in a row to give Campbellsville a three-point lead, 21-18. Two more Gonzalez kills, and one from Madrigal sealed the second set, 25-21.
Cumberland took the first two points of the third set, followed by the Tigers answering with three of their own. Kill-after-kill from Banks, Guner, and Alonzo Vega helped Campbellsville score five straight points to take a 10-5 lead. The Tigers continued to tack points onto their side of the scoreboard with kills from Banks, Gonzalez, Zavatini, and Madrigal. The final point of the set was awarded to the Tigers from a Madrigal kill, 25-17.
Gonzalez led Campbellsville with 15 kills, Madrigal with 11, and Gruner with seven. Vega collected 39 assists, and Andres Laboy had 18 digs. The Tigers led in many statistical categories: points (50-43), kills (46-38), aces (2-0), assists (44-36), hitting percentage (.384-.222), and digs (32-23).
GAME TWO: Campbellsville 3, University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy 1
Zavatini started the first set with a kill to give the Tigers the first point. Gonzalez and Madrigal followed with back-to-back kills, giving Campbellsville a one-point advantage. Kills from Gonzalez, Madrigal, and Gaston Barrionuevo helped the Tigers not fall too far behind while trailing 14-9. The Tigers continued to trail throughout the rest of the set, losing 25-22.
The Tigers scored five straight points to begin the second set, followed by another five-point run to extend their lead to 10-1. Back-to-back kills from Madrigal and more from Banks, Zavatini, Gonzalez, and Gruner helped the Tigers take a 20-9 lead. One final kill from Banks gave the second set to the Tigers, 25-19.
The third set stayed point-for-point until the Tigers took a three-point lead, 11-3. Campbellsville took a six-point lead after kills from Zavatini and Madrigal and service errors from UHSP. UHSP rallied back, scoring five points in a row to cut the Tigers' lead to one point, 18-17. Service and attack errors helped the Tigers, along with kills from Gruner and Zavatini. The final two Tiger points were awarded on kills from Madrigal, 25-23.
Back-to-back kills from Zavatini opened the fourth set. Three straight points were awarded to Campbellsville on three kills in a row: Zavatini, Madrigal, and Banks. UHSP rallied to cut the lead to one point, 7-6. Seven errors helped the Tigers extend their lead to 16-10. Kills from Madrigal, Gonzales, Banks, and Gruner took the score to 23-16. Two more errors from UHSP gave the fourth set to the Tigers, 25-19.
Zavatini led the Tigers with 14 kills, Madrigal with 13, and Gonzalez with 12. Aleksa Plevaljcic collected 44 assists, and Laboy had 23 digs. The Tigers led with 71 points compared to their 59, 60 kills to their 43, 57 aces to their 43, and 68 digs to their 50.
The Tigers will be back in action on Tuesday, March 19th, to take on Georgetown College in Campbellsville, Kentucky. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET.
