Prior to the weekend the Bearcats were riding a four game winning streak to end their non-conference schedule, coming off big wins versus Notre Dame, Bowling Green, Miami and Xavier, the Bearcats were looking to keep the ball rolling when they made the weekend trip to Florida to take on USF and UCF in the opening weekend of the conference schedule.
The Bearcats were looking to pick right back up and continue to play the high level volleyball they were playing to start their season. The Bearcats were sitting 5-3 before this weekends conference opener versus USF as they wanted to kick off conference play in a big way and get a win in their first conference match.
The Bearcats have seen tremendous play all around here early in the 2021 season, especially from senior outside Maria Mallon. Mallon has a team high 132 kills, 10 service aces, 155 digs, 14 blocks, totaling for 151 points for the Bearcats. The outside has been contributing on all aspects of the game, and has shown her resiliency early in her senior season. Mallon who has been a force to be reckon with so far this season has recorded five consecutive double-doubles heading into Saturdays match. She didn’t let that streak end as she recorded 15 kills, 13 digs and four blocks versus the Bulls to lead the Bearcats to their 5th straight win, as they defeated the USF Bulls in a 5 set thriller. The senior has really shown why she was one of the top players in the American Athletic Conference.
The Bearcats took the first match of the weekend when they took down USF for their 5th consecutive win but they weren’t done yet, as they still had to make the quick road trip from Tampa Bay to Orlando to take on the reigning AAC Champions UCF. The Bearcats had solid performance’s from Abby Walker who recorded seven kills and five blocks. Shannon Williams also had seven kills and four blocks. Adria Oliver was the 3rd Bearcat to record seven kills and five blocks in the teams 3 set to 2 victory over the USF Bulls.
