Today, the Bearcats Volleyball team welcomed the USF Bulls to Fifth Third Arena to kick off what has been an incredible weekend at the University of Cincinnati. The Bearcats are coming in 13-8 on the season, (8-5 AAC), after a hard fought lose to UCF this past Friday, the Bearcats are looking to bounce back in the win column here today. The Bulls enter today 6-18 overall, (0-13 AAC), but the Bulls will look to get their first win in conference play this season here at Fifth Third Arena.
The starters for the Bearcats in today’s contest were Kailea Carrier, Maria Mallon, Emme Madden, Adria Oliver, Abby Walker, Molly Harrison and Payton Frederick.
Set 1- The Bearcats got their first points of the match behind a kill from Adria Oliver. The Bulls took an early 3-1 lead before the Bearcats rallied back to tie it up at 3-3 lead following 2 consecutive errors from the Bulls. The Bulls found some momentum as they went on a 3 point run to take a 6-3 lead forcing Bearcats head coach Molly Alvey to call a early timeout, following a bulls service ace. The Bearcats got momentum after the timeout after Maria Mallon recorded her first kill of the match, and followed up with a service ace on the very next play, to cut the bulls lead to 1, as the Bearcats trailed 6-5. The Bulls took a quick a quick 11-7 lead following a 3 point run, as the Bearcats were looking to come back from an early deficit. The Bulls jumped out to a quick 14-9 lead before the Bearcats got some momentum going that started with a service ace by Payton Frederick, followed by a Bulls attacking error and the Bearcats cut this lead to 3, trailing 14-11. The Bearcats rallied back after a tremendous save from freshman Molly Harrison to keep the rally going at 14-11 that resulted in a huge solo block by Kailea Carrier. The Bearcats rallied back that all started by a service ace from Kerstin Ficker at 16-13, the Bearcats rallied back after a kill from Shannon Williams and a error by the Bulls the Bearcats cut the lead to 1 when the trailed 17-16. The Bulls rallied back though as they extended their lead to 20-17 following a 3 point run after a Alexis Williams service aces forces the Bearcats to call a timeout. The Bulls rallied out after that timeout as a bulls kill, followed by two consecutive service aces from Alexis Williams opened the Bulls up for a 6 point lead over the Bearcats. The Bulls kept their foot on the gas as the recorded four service aces in the final 7 points of Set 1 propelling the Bulls to a 25-17 win over the Bearcats.
Set 2- The Bearcats got their first points of the set, just like they did in Set 1 after a kill from Adria Oliver. The Bearcats took an early 4-3 lead after back to back errors from the Bulls. The Bearcats however, had changed all the momentum after a 3-0 run that resulted in a kill from Adria Oliver, Madison Waters, followed by a huge block at the net by Waters and Oliver, and the Bearcats had an early 7-5 lead. The Bearcats kept their foot on the gas after the Bulls timeout after an attacking error by the Bulls, followed by a huge block by Madison Waters, the Bearcats found themselves in the midst of a huge 5 point swing, to take an early 11-6 lead. The Bearcats kept their foot on the gas after a service ace from Payton Frederick gave the Bearcats a 15-9 lead here in Set 2. The Bearcats extended their lead to 12-10 after a kill by Abby Walker started the rally, but after four straight errors by the Bulls the Bearcats were controlling all the momentum here in Set 2. The Bearcats took advantage of the Bulls struggles on offense and just dominated the whole set winning 25-14. Madison Waters recorded five kills for the Bearcats in Set 2, to help give the Bearcats that spark of momentum they were needing after falling in Set 1.
