Two matches in Kokomo, Indiana, and two different kinds of wins. Cumberlands opened the day down two sets to one against Rio Grande and had to fight for every point of a five-set match. By the second match, against 13th-ranked IU Kokomo, the Patriots didn’t need a fight at all. The record is 7-1.
Match one: down 1-2, won it in five over Rio Grande
Rio Grande took the first set 25-21 and the third 25-22, meaning Cumberlands faced a two-sets-to-one deficit at the point most five-set matches are decided. The Patriots closed it out instead, winning the fourth 25-14 and the fifth 15-13.
Josie Newcom had the match of her season so far: 11 kills on 20 attempts for a .450 hitting percentage, the best combination of volume and efficiency on either roster. Brynnley Bryant led the team in points with 17.0, built on 15 kills, though her .238 hitting percentage on 42 attempts was the busier, less clean version of her game. Savanah Jolly ran the offense almost entirely by herself, 49 of the team’s 56 assists.
Sara Zampedri had a quiet night by her standards: 13 kills but a .171 hitting percentage on 41 attempts, well below her usual mark. It didn’t matter in the end, but it’s worth naming, because of what happened four hours later.
Match two: a sweep of #13 IU Kokomo
Cumberlands took care of business in three, 25-20, 26-24, 25-21, over the 13th-ranked host.
Zampedri flipped her form completely: 18 kills on a .357 clip, the best hitting percentage of anyone who took 30 or more swings in the match, plus 15 digs and a team-high 18.5 points. Jolly again ran nearly the whole offense, 39 of the team’s 43 assists.
Newcom’s role reversed too. After her .450 night against Rio Grande, she managed just .040 on 25 attempts against IU Kokomo. Two players, one hot and one cold in each match, in exactly opposite directions.
The thread connecting both matches
Jolly set 88 of the team’s 99 combined assists across the two matches, effectively running the entire offense both times. Bryant took the most swings on the team in both matches without being the most efficient hitter either time. And Newcom and Zampedri traded off being the standout attacker match to match, which is either a coincidence of a long tournament day or a real signal that this offense has more than one player capable of taking over a match. Worth watching whether that pattern holds.
Our take
Sweeping a ranked team is the highlight, but the Rio Grande match is the more instructive one. A team that’s down two sets to one and finds a way to win the next two, on the road, on the first match of a long day, is showing something about its competitive floor. Cumberlands is 7-1, and both matches today were won by different players stepping up on different days.
The numbers
| vs Rio Grande | vs #13 IU Kokomo | |
|---|---|---|
| Result | W 3-2 (21-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-14, 15-13) | W 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-21) |
| Team hitting % | .297 | .233 |
| Player of the Game | Josie Newcom, 11 K, .450 | Sara Zampedri, 18 K, .357 |
| Jolly assists | 49 of 56 | 39 of 43 |
| Newcom | 11 K, .450 | 5 K, .040 |
| Zampedri | 13 K, .171 | 18 K, .357 |
| Bryant | 15 K, .238, 17.0 pts | 8 K, .156, 9.0 pts |
Cumberlands is 7-1 on the season.