The Bearcats had a quick turn around as the welcomed the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes to Fifth Third Arena for Senior day where the Bearcats honored there five seniors. Those 5 seniors included Maria Mallon, Shannon Williams, Armanaia Heckenmueller, Hannah Bolinger and Dimitra Tziarli for their endless contributions to this volleyball program over the last four years.
The Bearcats came out and dominated Set 1 from the jump as they took an early 6-0 lead after four early attacking errors from the Golden Hurricane, and a Molly Harrison service ace, the Bearcats were off to a great start early on senior day. The Golden Hurricane cut the Bearcats early lead to 4 before Kerstin Ficker recorded consecutive service aces in the midst of a Bearcats 5-0 run that started with a kill from Sarah Norcom. The Bearcats kept that momentum going late in the set as they sparked another 4-0 run after a kill from Maria Mallon, that she followed up with consecutive service aces to give the Bearcats a 24-14 lead, before Sarah Norcom finished the set out with a kill to give the Bearcats an early 1-0 lead after winning 25-15.
The Golden Hurricanes came out in Set 2 and opened up with an 11-7 lead after a 4 point swing to open this set up a little, as they were looking to take advantage of their early run this time around. The Bearcats rallied back behind three consecutive kills from Adria Oliver, to cut the golden hurricane lead. The Bearcats couldnt hold on after a late push from the Golden Hurricane, tied this match up at 1 set a piece.
Tulsa came out in Set 3 and scored the first points and they never looked back as they led the Bearcats the whole set before taking a 25-19 lead as they took a 2 set to 1 lead over the Bearcats.
The Bearcats knew they had to rally back here in Set 4, as the Golden Hurricane had all the momentum moving forward after taking the previous two sets. The Golden Hurricane jumped out to a big 16-8 lead over the Bearcats after an early 8-1 lead to start the match. The Bearcats rallied back after a 10 point run late in the set that started with a Maria Mallon kill when they trailed 20-13. The Bearcats senior had caught fire as she recorded four kills in that run, followed by two service aces from Abby Walker and the Bearcats completely flipped the script of this match with that run, forcing a crucial Set 5 after taking a 25-22 victory to force a Set 5 on Senior Day.
The Bearcats were looking to overcome an early 5-2 deficit early in the set, before taking a huge 8 point run that started with a kill from Mallon, followed by four Golden Hurricane errors in that time frame, and the Bearcats were looking to finish this match off. The Bearcats took Set 5, 15-10 as the Golden Hurricane really struggled to keep the ball in the court when it mattered the most and that allowed the Bearcats to overcome an early 2 set to 1 deficit to hang on and beat Tulsa 3-2. Maria Mallon led the way with a match high 23 kills, 19 digs. Kailea Carrier, and Adria Oliver both recorded 12 kills, and three blocks as the middles were a huge factor in this match, especially late when the Bearcats were looking to rally back .
The Bearcats will be back in action for their final game of the season this Wednesday at 1 pm as they take on East Carolina University, as they look to finish the season on a three game winning streak.
