Tonight the woman’s volleyball team traveled to Alexandria, Kentucky to take on The Northern Kentucky Norse. The Bearcats were looking to keep the momentum going as they were looking to win their 3rd consecutive match. They were without middle blocker Adria Oliver for tonight’s contest which was a big factor for the Bearcats as she is the Bearcats best defender at the net and on of their top offensive weapons. The Bearcats looked to get Armania Heckenmueller back in action as she played in her first match of the season tonight as they decided to run a 6-2 offense with her and senior Ashley Kozer. This allowed the Bearcats to throw a different look at the Norse and a different look than what we have seen all season so far.
The Bearcats started out well for the first few points as they were up 2-1 in set one before the Norse rung off a 6-0 rally to take a 7-2 lead over the Bearcats within a matter of minutes. During this 6-0 run by the Norse it included two service aces from Anna Brinkmann. The 6-0 run really put the Bearcats in a hole early as everyone knows how hard it is to overcome a big run like that in volleyball especially right out of the gate. The sport of volleyball is a game of runs and unfortunately if you don’t have an answer for one teams runs, you will be in for a long night, and that’s what happened early in Set 1 tonight. The Bearcats looked to continue their momentum from late in set 1 as they started Set 2 with back to back kills from rightside hitter Shannon Williams. This sparked a nice run for the Bearcats to build a 8-4 lead before the Norse called timeout in Set 2. The Bearcats lead at one point in Set 2, 16-10 before the Norse rattled off another 4-0 run before the bearcats called a timeout, this run actually escalated to another six point run for the Norse before a service error gave the bearcats some momentum to take a 17-16 lead. The Norse rattled off another 4-0 run against the Bearcats which gave them the momentum to come back and win Set 2 25-20, putting the Bearcats in a 2-0 hole. Set 3 was neck and neck before NKU found another run late in the set which propelled them to a sweep in 3 sets over the Bearcats as they took Set 3 winning 25-17. The key of the night for the Norse was outside hitter Anna Brinkmann as she recorded 18 kills which was a match high, four service aces and eight digs. The Norse also had strong performances from Reilly Briggs and Miranda Wuecherer as they both recorded seven, eight kills respectfully. For the Bearcats on the other hand junior outside Maria Mallon lead the way with 10 kills, one service ace and 11 digs. Followed by the freshman Sarah Norcom as she recorded eight kills and eight digs. Madison Waters finished with seven kills as well. Armania Heckenmueller finished with 23 assists in her first match back as the Preseason All-AAC selection is looking to get back into the offense for the Bearcats. Shannon Williams provided a nice spark from the rightside as she recorded six kills as well. Sophomore libero Payton Frederick had 10 digs tonight for the Bearcats as well. Overall you can see how much Adria Oliver effects a matchup as she gives opposing teams troubles at the net and offensively. The Bearcats just seemed to struggle offensively as they made 18 hitting errors compared to the Norse’s seven. They were being very aggressive on that end just couldn’t find their spots. The Bearcats will be back and hopefully back at full strength as they finish the remainder of their season as they have six more conference games remaining before a tournament.
The Bearcats look to jump back in the win column and remain undefeated in conference play when they travel to Tampa Bay on March 4th and 5th for a series with the University of South Florida.
