Today the Women’s Volleyball team traveled to Norwood to take on crosstown rival Xavier for game one of the two match series at the Cintas Center. The Bearcats also came into today still missing their two All-AAC Preseason selections, outside hitter Maria Mallon and setter Armania Heckenmueller as well who both did not play last weekend in the first two matches versus Illinois State. Coming into today the Musketeers haven’t won a match versus Cincinnati since December 20th, 2014 which is now almost seven years later which is very impressive.
Set one both teams really set the pace for this match as it was back and forth all set. Unfortunately the Bearcats fell short of pulling it out in set one and dropped a hard fought set 26-24. The Bearcats established their offense early on as they got everyone on the court. They seemed to spread the ball around as the outsides, middles, right side hitters were all finding holes in the Musketeer defense. The Bearcats fell as they hit only .189% in the first set compared to Xavier’s .265%.
Set two the Bearcats really go the ball going as they flipped the switch completely and hit for nearly 60% points better than they did in set one as they hit .243%. The Bearcats found a groove in the serving game that started here in set two as they picked apart Xavier’s serve receive defense and rallied off three serving aces that helped the Bearcats come back from a 1-0 deficit to win set two 25-21.
Set three the Bearcats kept the momentum and really opened up the floor between outside hitters Madison Waters, Maria Tobergte, middle hitter Adria Oliver and middle/right side Kailea Carrier. Set three was all about serving as the Bearcats just ripped the Musketeers serve receive defense apart even more rattling off six more service aces and three of them coming from senior setter Ashley Kozer. After the 3rd set the Bearcats outplayed the Musketeers in the serving column as the Bearcats had a tremendous 10 serving aces compared to Xavier’s three. Anyone who has played volleyball knows once a team rallies off that many service aces and finds a groove if you don’t make an adjustment quick it’s hard to rally back from and that showed tonight. The Bearcats took set three 25-19 to extend to a two sets to one lead.
Set four the Bearcats jumped out to a big 12-6 lead at one point after going on a 6-0 run which was shortly erased after Xavier had a run of their own to make set four very close. The Musketeers rallied back to pull within two at one point late in the 4th set trailing 21-19 before the Bearcats put the match away. Both the Musketeers and the Bearcats hit .200% or higher in set four which was a great offensive battle. The Bearcats hit .211 in set four rallying 12 kills. The Bearcats continued to fool the Musketeer serve receive defense and tallying another three service aces. The Bearcats took set four 25-21 to win the match three sets to one.
The Bearcats were firing on all cylinders tonight as they took on Xavier whether it was at the net or in the serving game. The Bearcats not only had four players record 10 kills or more, They also had 10+ serving aces. The Bearcats finished tonight’s match with a total of 13 serving aces compared to Xaviers fie. The Bearcats just dominated the serving game and that gave the Musketeers a lot of trouble, especially allowing almost half of those aces in one set as the Bearcats rallied six aces in set three. 10 of those 13 serving aces came from senior setter Ashley Kozer, and outside hitter Maria Tobergte as they both recorded five aces each. Outside the serving game the Bearcats just dominated the net as well. The Bearcats had four players record 10 or more kills in tonight’s match which is very impressive. This shows how explosive the Bearcats offense can be when they spread the ball around and get everyone going in the offense. Junior outside hitter Madison Waters finished with 11 kills and nine digs. Sophomore outside Maria Tobergte finished her night with 13 kills, five serving aces and 21 digs. Senior setter Ashley Kozer did a fantastic job of getting everyone involved and controlling the Bearcats offense. Kozer had her connections going with everyone tonight and no matter who she gave the ball too, they were going to put it down for the Bearcats. Kozer finished with a incredible 51 assists, seven digs and five serving aces. Junior middle Adria Oliver showed why she was a Preseason AAC selection tonight as she recorded 11 kills and two blocks. Middle/right side Kailea Carrier also had a big night as she also recorded 13 kills which was tied for a match high, as well as three blocks. The impressive thing about Carrier is she keeps the ball in play as she came into tonight’s match leading the team in hitting percentage at .341%, she defiantly boosted that tonight because Carrier hit for .429 tonight as she put down 13 kills in 28 attempts. Defensive specialist Peyton Frederick and Kristin Ficker has tremendous nights on defense as Ficker finished with 15 digs, Frederick with 22 digs. The Bearcats have a plateau of weapons at the net weather it’s middle Demitra Tziarli, Kailea Carrier, Adria Oliver, Maria Mallon, Madison Waters or Maria Tobergte, the Bearcats can space the floor very well to free up space, put the ball away very quickly into plays and it showed tonight with four players recording 10 or more kills. The Bearcats showed tonight why they were receiving votes in the Preseason Top 25 poll because of how dangerous they can be on offense, but that’s not even it the defense has also been incredible as well.
This was a big win for the Bearcats as they knock off crosstown rival Xavier in the first of a two match series. The Bearcats will look to sweep the Musketeers tomorrow as they will have their home opener at Fifth Third Arena at 2 pm for game two with the Musketeers. This game will be streamed live on ESPN+ for people to tune in and watch.
