Set 5- The Bearcats jumped out to a 3-0 run as the Bulls had a serving error that was followed by an attacking error by the Bulls. The energy to start up 3-0 in Set 5 is huge as many people know in the sport of volleyball Set 5 is only played to 15 points instead of the normal 25. The Bulls fought back as they knew they had to bring all the energy here in the set as it is win or go home. The Bearcats were determined to finish this one as they went on a big 5-0 run to extend their lead 10-5 before the Bulls called a timeout to flip the switch to try stop the Bearcats rally. The Bearcats finished that game on a 9-2 run that was highlighted by a absolute beautiful service ace from junior Armania Heckenmuller that dropped right in the back corner to seal the Bearcats comeback victory as the bearcats won Set 5, 15-6. This was a big win for the Bearcats as they haven’t gone to 5 sets all year and pulled out a incredible finish to blow away the Bulls in the final 2 sets.
The Bearcats knew coming into today that they would have to play at their best to win as they were fighting for second place in the AAC with the USF Bulls. The Bearcats came out strong in Set 1 as they overcame an early deficit a 7-2 deficit to win Set 1, 25-23, that really set the tone for the Bearcats as they knew that USF was a very talented team and they were gonna have to overcome adversity early if they wanted to come back to take Set 1. This sport is all about runs and catching them at the right time and the Bearcats caught their runs in Set 1 little by little as they chipped away at the lead little by little until they squeezed out a 25-23 victory. The Bulls fought hard as they then took the next to sets as they won Set 2 25-21 and Set 3 25-23. The first 2 sets consisted of both teams being very aggressive on the serving end as there were nine service aces recorded in the first 2 sets, five for the Bulls, five for the Bearcats. This match was back and forth for the first 3 sets and it was an absolute thriller of a match. The Bearcats ended Set 3 with momentum after a late 3-0 run to try to come back in Set 3, but they fell just short. The Bearcats knew they’d need a big spark of momentum to try to turn this game around as trailing 2-1 is very hard to overcome in this sport and well they did just that alright. The Bearcats carried the momentum into Set 4 and that’s an understatement to say the least. They ended Set 3 with lots of momentum as they started Set 4 with a very big rally that included three impressive digs on consecutive hard hit balls by sophomore libero Payton Frederick, Frederick’s defense in this rally set the Bearcats up for right side hitter Shannon Williams to record a kill to give the Bearcats a 3-0 lead early. The Bearcats continued to keep their foot on the gas as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead that included two kills early on in Set 4 from Adria Oliver. The Bulls look to create a run of their own which didn’t last as long as they’d hope as they found themselves in a massive hole from the jump. The Bearcats continued to throw multiple different looks at the Bulls as Hannah Bolinger Joined in on the action as she put a USF overpass straight down for a kill to give the bearcats a 10-3 lead before the bulls found any sort of momentum. Late in set 4 the bearcats looked to continue to feed the Hot hand and story of the match in Maria Mallon as she recorded her 18th kill of the match to give the bearcats a a big 21-14 lead over USF. The Bearcats finished Set 4 outscoring the Bulls 8-2 to win Set 4 25-14. In that time span Maria Mallon had four kills and one block. Also a huge shoutout to senior Ashley Kozer as she did a tremendous job of keeping her serve in play during this run because keeping the serve in play goes a very long way in this sport as she served the final five balls of the set for the Bearcats. The Bearcats momentum carried on from there as they absolutely dominated the final 2 sets of the match and they knew they’d have to keep that momentum as the 5th set in the sport of volleyball is only played to 15 point instead of the normal 25. The Bearcats jumped out to a big 3-0 start there in Set 5 as the Bearcats were just absolutely eating in this match. Maria Mallon had a big solo block to give the Bearcats a 6-3 lead in Set 5 and they flipped the switch because after USF got the serve back trailing 6-4 it was all bearcats from there on out. The Bearcats went on a 9-2 run to win that included two kills each from middle blocker Hannah Bolinger, and outside hitter Madison Waters. The Bearcats weren’t only sharing the ball and getting everyone involved they were giving the Bulls a lot of problems late in the match. Kerstin Ficker recorded a very sneaky service ace that just skimmed the top of the tape on the net as well for her only service ace in the match and it came at a perfect time. The Bearcats junior setter and Preseason All-AAC selection Armania Heckenmueller went back to serve for what turned out to be the match winning serve as the junior dropped an absolute beauty of a float serve in the back corner for the service ace to seal the bearcats come from behind victory. The Bearcats proved today why they were getting the recognition they were in the college volleyball world. This team is a complete overall team. Not only do they have three Preseason AAC selections, they potentially have multiple players who will be in the running for recognition within the American Athletic Conference. Maria Mallon showed today why she’s deemed such a threat in this conference as not only did she go on a run early in the match in Set 2 where she recorded back to back service aces with her jump serve, she showed why she is in talks for the running of the AAC Player of the Year after that performance. The junior recorded a career high in digs tonight as she record a massive 24 digs as well as 21 kills, three service aces and three blocks. A big stat note about tonight’s match is that the bearcats as team had a hitting percentage of .247% on the match while the Bulls only hit .184% on the match. Not only were the Bearcats being smart and keeping the ball in play, they continued to be very aggressive while doing it. The Bearcats had nine players record a kill tonight and not one of them had a negative hitting percentage. Hannah Bollinger had a match high with a .667% hitting percentage as she recorded six kills on nine attempts. The Bearcats in Set 4 hit for .500 in the set as they recorded 14 kills on 24 attempts. That is a crazy that’s averaging a kill nearly 58% of the time a player swings on a ball. The Bearcats ran a 6-2 offense in tonight’s match with senior Ashley Kozer and junior Armania Heckenmueller and they both did a tremendous job calling the offense especially when it came down to bringing the team together to flip the narrative of the match after falling Set 3 in a close hard fought battle. This Bearcats volleyball team is absolutely special and you can defiantly see the chemistry and bond this team has on and off the court. This match was all about energy and it was as everyone hoped and that was a thriller between two top teams in the AAC.
Stat leaders for the Bearcats include Maria Mallon who had a career night with 21 kills, a career high 24 digs, three blocks as well as two assists. Outside hitter Madison Waters had a great night for the Bearcats as well recording 16 kills, one block and 16 digs. Adria Oliver recorded eight kills, two blocks. Shannon Williams had seven kills as well as two blocks. The Bearcats setters combined for a total of 57 assists led by Armania Heckenmueller with 26 , Ashley Kozier had 19 as well as 10 digs. Heckenmueller finished with 26 assists, three service aces, seven digs. Sophomore libero Payton Frederick also had a great game as she recorded eight assists, three service aces, 14 digs.
Overall this Bearcats volleyball team is a very fun team to watch as they are coming off a historic year in 2019 before covid delayed the start of the season. This Bearcats volleyball team is something special I will say that, they have options and depth all across the court as they have shown that between Maria Mallon, Maria Tobergte, Adria Oliver, Sarah Norcom, Dimitra Tzairli, Shannon Williams, Hannah Bollinger and Alexandra Kwasnik. These girls have shown they are a force to be reckon within the AAC and can look to make another deep NCAA tournament run at the end of the season. This team has overcome a lot of adversity so far this season as they were without Maria Mallon and setter Armania Heckenmueller for the first two games of the season, overcame some big deficits throughout the season. The girls volleyball team is looking to win back to back conference titles for Cincinnati.
The woman’s volleyball team will be back in action tomorrow as they look to sweep the USF Bulls on the road and make a statement in the AAC standings. This game will be broadcasted on ESPN+ at 4pm. The Bearcats will look to improve their 5-3 record (3-0 AAC) tomorrow for Game 2 versus a very tough USF team.
