Today the Bearcats welcomed Eastern Carolina University to Fifth Third Arena for their final home game of the season. The Bearcats are coming in to todays contest 17-9 overall, (12-6 AAC), as they are riding a 2 game win streak after victories over Tulsa and Wichita State over the weekend. The Bearcats were looking to keep that momentum going as they finish off the 2021 season.
The starters for today’s contest were Emme Madden, Maria Mallon, Payton Frederick, Kerstin Ficker, Adria Oliver, Abby Walker and Molly Harrison.
The Bearcats got off to a quick start as Emme Madden got the Bearcats on the board with a kill to kick off the match. The Pirates responded though with a 5 point swing to take an early 5-1 lead. The Bearcats rallied back and tied this set at 6 after a ace from Abby Walker and a kill from Kailea Carrier. The Bearcats went back and forth as they were tied at 14. A back and forth battle as there was 12 lead changes throughout the first set and the biggest one came at 18-17 after Sarah Norcom got a huge kill for the Bearcats to give them their biggest lead of the match leading 19-17. However the Pirates rallied back and tied this set at 21 before a pirate service error to give the Bearcats a 22-21 lead. The Bearcats would not look back after a huge block from Adria Oliver and Madison Waters gave the Bearcats some momentum they would hold off the Pirates to take Set 1, 25-22. The Bearcats were led by Abby Walker and Sarah Norcom as they both had 6 kills respectfully during the Bearcats 25-22, Set 1 victory.
The Bearcats found themselves in an early hole, just like Set 1 as they trailed 3-0 before Abby Walker got the Bearcats on the board with her 7th kill of the match. The Bearcats went on a 4 point run to tie this set at 4 following kills form Madden and Walker. The Bearcats got a statement block from Adria Oliver that really changed the momentum as they Bearcats never looked back as that block got the Bearcats on their feet, as this block gave the Bearcats their first lead of the match and they never looked back from there. The Bearcats got going as Adria Oliver took over and had 5 of the Bearcats first 8 points after four kills, and a block, as she flipped the momentum for the Bearcats early. The Bearcats just kept their foot on the gas as they were doing at great job at terminating every ball, and limiting the errors, as that allowed the Bearcats to jump out to a huge 17-10 lead over the Pirates. The Pirates didn’t let up though as the Bearcats 24-20 lead was cut to 24-23 before a huge kill from Kailea Carrier to give the Bearcats a 2-0 lead over the Pirates.
