Today the girls volleyball team was back in action for the first time in 413 days due to their season being postponed to covid-19! They traveled to Illinois to play Illinois State in a weekend series! The Bearcats are coming off a historic season after making it all the way to the Sweet 16 in 2019 in the NCAA tournament! The Bearcats won game one of the series three sets to one.
The Bearcats were without two Preseason AAC selections heading into today’s match as junior outside Maria Mallon, and starting setter Armania Heckenmueller were not available for today’s match against Illinois State. That didn’t stop the Bearcats from going on the road and getting their first victory of the year. Senior setter Ashley Kozer did a tremendous job stepping in and controlling the Bearcats offense in their first match of the season. Kozer finished the night with a match high 51 assists, as well as 19 digs (also a match high), also tallying three kills. Sophomore’s Marie Tobergte and Madison Waters led the way with a match high 19 kills each! Tobergte also recorded nine digs, two blocks and one service ace. Waters had 19 kills, 15 digs, one block and one service ace. Middle Kailea Carrier also had 12 kills while only recording one hitting error, which is very impressive. Carrier also recorded four digs and two blocks. Defensive specialist Payton Frederick recorded 17 digs in tonight’s matchup. The sophomore was a key part in tonight’s victory with her defense since many people know you need a great first ball to set the pace for the offense and Frederick did a great job doing that tonight! Middle Adria Oliver had a big night defensive as she recorded a match high five blocks, Oliver also recorded eight kills. The bearcats looked very good for their first game in just a little over year! The main thing the Bearcats did was control the tempo on offense. The Bearcats seemed to find a groove with the outside hitters early on which opened up the middles in Dimitra Tziarli, Adria Oliver, as well as Kailea Carter. The Bearcats were looking to get back in the groove of things after a delayed season due to covid-19. I will say I was very impressed with how this team played tonight after that long of a layoff with all the covid-19 restrictions the Bearcats showed that they are a tough team coming off a historic season in 2019. The Bearcats look to finish the weekend strong and start the season off with a series win on the road!
The Bearcats take on Illinois State again tomorrow for a afternoon game at 1 pm on ESPN+. The Bearcats look to record a road series win before coming home to kick off conference play!
