The Bearcats dominated early in Set 1 as they took an early 3-0 lead behind a service ace by freshman defensive specialist Molly Harrison to start the match, as that really sparked some early momentum for the Bearcats. The Bearcats held the early lead all the way to 11-7 following kills from Alex Kwasnik, Shannon Williams and Abby Walker. However, the Tigers went on a 6 point run to take a 13-11 lead after a couple of Bearcat errors, and back to back service aces from Tabytha Toelke, the Tigers found a great stride of momentum after that big 6 point run. The Bearcats trailed 14-13 before they took a 5 point run of their own as Maria Mallon got the run started with a kill, that followed with a service ace from Payton Frederick, and back to back kills from Abby Walker, the Bearcats had flipped all of the momentum after that 5 point run. The Bearcats rallied off another 5 point run, just like that to extend their lead to 23-25 following kills by Maria Mallon, Abby Walker, and consecutive service aces from Kerstin Ficker. The Bearcats dominated the second half of Set 1, the Bearcats had a .321 hitting percentage, recording 11 kills while only committing two errors was a big factor in this match early on as the Bearcats were containing their errors, while Memphis committed nine errors in the first set of the match.
Set 2, the Bearcats rallied back and forth with the Tigers, trailing 10-9 early, before the Tigers took a 5 point run to really open this set up and swing all the momentum to take a 15-9 lead. The Bearcats ended up trailing as much as 9 in Set 2, but couldn’t overcome the early deficit, and for anyone who has played or been around the sport of volleyball knows those big holes aren’t easy to dig yourself out of, and that was the exact case for the Bearcats as they couldn’t overcome the early deficit and fell 25-19, and this match was now tied at 1 set a piece.
The Bearcats found themselves in an early hole as the Tigers carried that momentum from Set 2 into set three and that was a key factor within this match, as the Bearcats were looking to flip the momentum after losing Set 2, However the Tigers had different thoughts as they jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead over the Bearcats to start the set. The Bearcats rallied back to tie this match at 10 behind back to back kills from Maria Mallon, and Adria Oliver, and the offense was executing and putting balls away as they were looking to keep this match from being over. The set went back and forth and this set was tied at 19 following a huge service ace from Julie Wittekind. The Tigers on the other hand rallied to beat the Bearcats 25-21 in Set 3, after a 3-0 run to seal the victory, as the Tigers were now sitting in the drivers seat with a 2-1 lead over the Bearcats, after winning consecutive sets, The Bearcats now knew this match was going to have to extend to 5 sets if they wanted to hold on.
The Tigers found themselves with a early 5-2 lead over the Bearcats after going on a 4 point run to start Set 4, but the Bearcats got a big kill from Maria Mallon to flip the momentum back to the Bearcats to stop the Tigers run, as they were looking to create a run of their own. The Bearcats rallied back after kills by Maria Mallon, and Abby Walker, the Bearcats escaped the early hole and were looking to push the gates open here late in the match, and thats what they did as they never looked back, after a 3 point run created by kills from Abby Walker, and Adria Oliver, as the Middles were really effective down the stretch of this match. The Bearcats jumped out to a big 12-8 lead after a Madison Waters kill. The Bearcats offense was clicking with everyone late in set 4 weather it was Abby Walker, Maria Mallon, Adria Oliver, Madison Waters, the Bearcats were looking to extend this set and knew they had to put balls away to win this match. Despite a late Tigers run, the Bearcats held on to win Set 4 25-20.
The Bearcats controlled momentum for most of set 5, as the Bearcats held a 7-5 lead before the Tigers rallied back to tie this match at 7. The Bearcats however, capitalized off the Tigers errors, and recorded a big kill from Kailea Carrier, to take a 10-7 lead as the Bearcats were looking to finish this Halloween thriller of a match. The Bearcats jumped out to a 14-10 lead following kills from Maria Mallon, and Abby Walker yet again, before the Tigers tried to rally back as they cut the lead to 14-12 before Abby Walker hammered home the final kill to secure the Bearcats 3 set to 2 victory.
Overall, the Bearcats had a dominant showing versus the Tigers as outside hitter Maria Mallon finished with 19 kills, 18 digs. Abby Walker recorded a match high 20 kills, which was now a new career high. Kerstin Ficker had a dominant performance as she racked up a season high 15 digs, and played a big role for the Bearcats on defense. The middle connection was a big factor in this match as Adria Oliver and Abby Walker, combined for 34 kills for the Bearcats, and that is a big factor of their success this season, as they share the ball around very well, especially within the middle hitters, as well as decorated outside Maria Mallon, the Bearcats were just too powerful on offense for the Tigers, as they were dialed in after finding themselves in an early 2 set to 1 deficit, as the Bearcats knew they had to find momentum and flip this match around in their favor, and they did exactly that. The Bearcats freshman middle blocker earned a spot on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll with her play over the weekend as well, her second time on the honor roll this season.
The Bearcats will be back in action this Friday when they welcome UCF to Fifth Third Arena at 6:30 pm for what could be a battle for first place in the American Athletic Conference. Make sure to come start a eventful weekend on campus, and watch the Bearcats take on UCF ahead of Homecoming as there’s a lot of special things that will be taking place in Clifton, so what better way to start the weekend, than with some Bearcat Volleyball.
