This afternoon the Bearcats (4-13) (2-5 ACC) welcomed in Tulsa (9-9) (2-4 AAC) to Fifth Third Arena as they look to close out the weekend after falling to Wichita State on Friday in four sets. The Bearcats come into this one riding a two-game losing streak, while the Golden Hurricane are riding a four-game losing streak as both teams are looking to get back in the win column after a slow start to AAC play.
Coming into this match the Bearcats have a number of players climbing the ranks within the American Athletic Conference led by freshman outside hitter Carly Glendinning who currently ranks 4th in the AAC where she averages 3.96 kills per set, as well as ranking 6th in points where she averages 4.25 points per set. Abby Walker Currently ranks 8th in hitting percentage as the reigning Freshman of the Year is currently hitting .302% on the season. Libero Payton Frederick currently ranks 7th in digs where she averages 4.12 digs per set and has recorded 107 digs on the season as she continues to anchor the back line for the Bearcats. Emme Madden currently ranks 6th in the AAC where she averages 8.94 assists per set. Madden missed the first 12 games of the season for the Bearcats and since returning has done a great job facilitating the Bearcats offense as she looks to pick up where she left off a season a go where she recorded 978 assists, 251 digs and 35 total blocks as a freshman.
Starters for the Bearcats– Avry Tatum, Carly Glendinning, Emme Madden, Shaye Eggleston, Kailea Carrier, Abby Walker, Payton Frederick.
Starters for the Golden Hurricanes- Arianna Mongave, Brayden Hipp, Lauren Eitler, Kayley Cassaday, Avery Kalsu, Marta Pecalli, Rachel Brown.
Set 1- The Bearcats jumped out to an early 3-1 lead over the Golden Hurricane after straight kills from Tatum, Carrier and Eggleston and the Bearcats were starting to find their grove early on offense. The Golden Hurricane would respond with a five-point run consisting of three kills and a block as they took a 7-4 lead forcing Bearcats head coach Molly Alvey to call an early timeout. The Golden Hurricane were looking to push their lead as they led 13-10 before a huge kill from Tatum, followed by a Golden Hurricane error, this was quickly a 13-12 game as the Bearcats were slowly erasing the early deficit. The Bearcats would take an 18-17 lead following a huge kill from Carly Glendinning that forces Tulsa to call timeout late in the set. Tulsa would take a 21-20 lead following a 3 point run but the Bearcats would tie it up following a service error from Marta Pecalli that would spark a 5 point run to finish Set 1 as the Bearcats would get a huge kill from Tatum followed by a block from Elissa Alcantara to give the Bearcats an early 1-0 lead after taking Set 1, 25-21 behind five early kills from Tatum, along with four from Glendinning.
Set 2- The Bearcats would take a 6-4 lead behind kills from Walker and Eggleston and the sophomore duo was continuing to make their presence known at the net. Emme Madden was starting to facilitate the offense and get the middle blockers involved as Kailea Carrier recorded consecutive kills along with a huge solo block as everything was starting to click for the Bearcats here at Fifth Third Arena as they took a 10-7 lead over the Golden Hurricane. The Golden Hurricane would respond nicely however, as they took advantage of the Bearcats errors and a service ace from Kayley Cassaday, as they now held a 11-10 lead over the Bearcats forcing a timeout. The Bearcats would respond with five straight kills, three of those from Glendinning, two from Walker and just like that the Bearcats took a 15-11 lead over the Golden Hurricane. The Bearcats would keep their foot on the gas as they would jump out to a huge 23-15 lead after a 6 point run sparked the momentum as they were looking to an early two set lead over the Golden Hurricane. The Bearcats would hold on to take set 2, 25-18 following a huge kill from Tatum, and just like that the Bearcats had a 2-0 lead over Tulsa heading into the third set as they looked to complete the sweep.
