Friday night the Bearcats volleyball team welcomed in Wichita State to kick off the final homestand of the 2021 season. The Bearcats were coming off a weekend trip where they went 1-1 after defeating Tulane 3 sets to 1, before falling to Houston in straight sets. The Bearcats were looking to finish the final home stand on a positive note as they were 15-9 entering last night’s match with Wichita State.
The Bearcats were looking to revenge their early loss to Wichita State as they were looking to split the series sweep heading into Friday’s match. After an early back and forth battle the Bearcats were able to break the set open when they took a 13-12 lead over the Shockers after a attacking error by Sophia Rohling and the Bearcats took off from there as Payton Frederick followed with a service ace that really brought the Bearcats the spark they were needing after trailing by as much as 5 early in the set. The Bearcats took the lead for good after that and held on to take an early 1 set to 0 lead over the Wichita State after defeating the Shockers 25-20.
The Bearcats came out strong to start Set 2 as they took an early 4-1 lead following kills from Maria Mallon, Abby Walker, and a service ace from Abby Walker, and the Bearcats were looking to take advantage of that early lead, However the Shockers fought back after a 4-0 run to take a 7-6 lead. The Bearcats then responded right back with a 4 point swing as they opened this set up behind a pair of kills from Abby Walker. The Shockers rallied back that included a huge 7 point run late in the set to allow the Shockers to tie this match up as they took Set 2 25-21.
The Shockers came out and kept that momentum after a late 7 point run in Set 2, as they held on to take a 2-1 lead after taking an early 3-0 start the Shockers never looked back despite a late Bearcats rally that was propelled by three consecutive kills from Kailea Carrier and Maria Mallon, but the Bearcats run wasn’t enough as the Shockers took a 2-1 lead after a 25-23 victory.
The Bearcats knew they had to fight and rally back if they wanted to avoid the season sweep. The 4th set was a back and forth battle before the Bearcats opened the gates at 11-11 after a 3 point run to take a 13-11 lead after two shocker errors and a service ace from Maria Mallon. The Bearcats never looked back from there as the Shockers tried to make a late push before the Bearcats rallied off 4 straight points to take a 20-15 lead following kills from Maria Mallon and Sarah Norcom. The Bearcats got a spark of energy late in the set behind two kills from Adria Oliver in a short span to propel the Bearcats to a 25-21 victory to force a deciding Set 5.
The Bearcats came out and trailed 2-1 early before they took over and flat out dominated the Shockers, as the Bearcats fought hard and pushed the Shockers to the end as they ran out of gas as the Bearcats hung on to win 15-6 after taking a 7-2 lead following kills from Maria Mallon, Adria Oliver and Emme Madden. The Bearcats buried the Shockers in a big hole at the right time. The Bearcats kept their foot on the gas following three kills late in the set from Adria Oliver and the Bearcats snuck out with a 3-2 victory over the Wichita State to kick off their final home stand of the season. The Bearcats were led by Maria Mallon who finished with 18 kills, 15 digs. Abby Walker had 13 kills and six blocks to help the Bearcats on both ends of the game. Adria Oliver had her best game of the season as she recorded eight kills on 12 attempts, for a .833% on the match. The Bearcats junior libero Payton Frederick held it down in the back row with her great play, as she recorded 16 digs on the match.
