Eagles' Sterling Performance Takes Down Cumberlands

WILMORE, Ky. – With a sweep (25-11, 25-18, 25-22) over University of the Cumberlands, the Eagles have extended their winning streak to 10 straight matches. This marks the 17th time the Eagles have swept their opponent this season. Asbury has not lost to the Lady Patriots since 2006, a span of five matches.

During Asbury’s commanding first game 25-11 win they hit a solid .406, a mark that included 16 kills and only three errors. Freshman Sarah Sterling collected seven kills in the set, on her way to tying a career-high of 15 in the match.  The 15 kills is a team-high for a three-set match this season.  She also had 15 kills against Georgetown back on September 24th.

Asbury (23-4) recorded a total of 51 kills, the fifth time they’ve surpassed 50 kills in a match on the season and the most in a three-set match this year.  The Eagles hit .333 during the match, committing nine of their 15 errors in the third set.  The Lady Patriots (11-6) recorded only 26 kills for the match.

Dena Busse added 13 kills for the Eagles, the first time she’s reached double-digits in her last ten games.  She had five kills in each of the first and third sets.  Lindsay Ibold and Brittney Rader would add eight and seven kills respectively.  Cumberlands was led by three players with five kills each.

Sophomore Mackenzie Burke added five service aces on the night, as she leads the team with 36 on the season.  Burke needs only five more aces for 100 in her career. 

Burke also had 22 assists for the evening, and Freshman Jessie Bartlow added 20 as the Eagles set a new three-set high with 48.  Kelly Cole led Asbury with 16 digs as the team dug 50 balls on the night.

Asbury returns to the court on Thursday, October 13th when they take on Kentucky State University at 4:00 p.m. and Spalding University at 7:00 p.m.