BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - The Union College volleyball team reached another milestone with the program’s first Appalachian Athletic Conference championship after the Lady Bulldogs defeated Covenant (Ga.) College 3-1 in front of a home crowd Saturday.

With the win, Union, the top team in the NAIA Region XII rankings, improved to 16-2 in the AAC to claim the first conference championship in the 16 year history of the program. The Lady Bulldogs finished with a one-match lead over King (Tenn.) College and Bryan (Tenn.) College. Union will be the No. 1 seed entering the AAC Tournament set to begin Friday at King.

Union took the first two games, 31-29 and 30-15, before Covenant answered with a 30-27 decision in the third. The 30-21 decision in favor of Union clinched the match and the conference for the Lady Bulldogs.

Marlee Cooper (Bloomington, Ill.) and Brooke Vinovich (Somerset, Ky.) led the offense with ten kills apiece while Stephanie Pateman (Weyburn, Canada) added eight more. Autumn Combs (Florence, Ky.) added six more blocks to her season total. Christina Prindle (Florence, Ky.) was credited with 43 assists and 14 digs. Tracie Phillips (Bowling Green, Ky.) totaled a team-high 36 digs and served five aces and Sarah Alderson (Birmingham, Ala.) added 12 more digs.

Union also hosted No. 21 Campbellsville (Ky.) University later in the day and Campbellsville handed the Lady Bulldogs a 3-0 loss to drop Union to 31-11 on the year. The scores of the games were 30-24, 30-19 and 30-25.

Pateman and Cooper each accounted for seven kills while Vinovich added six more. Prindle totaled 21 assists while Phillips added 18 digs and Combs registered four blocks.

The Union junior-varsity squad picked up a 2-0 win over Campbellsville. The Lady Bulldogs won 25-11 and 25-16 for the sweep.

Meg Donnelly (Middletown, Ohio) had a team-best ten kills while Brooke Bowlin (Albany, Ky.) and Tara Gambrell (Middlesboro, Ky.) recorded seven and five, respectively. Misty Belcher (Harlan, Ky.) accounted for three blocks while Melissa Shannon (Danville, Ky.) added 12 digs. Danielle Singer (Rineyville, Ky.) collected 18 assists.

Next for the Bulldogs is a tri-match Tuesday evening. Union will travel to play host Asbury (Ky.) College at 7 p.m. but first the Lady Bulldogs and Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College will battle at 5 p.m.