Today the Bearcats senior outside hitter Maria Mallon announced she was joining the Barstool Athletics team as part of the new NIL bill for college athletes. Mallon looks to join teammate Hannah Bolinger as being part of the Barstool Athletics team.
The Chesterfield, Michigan native is coming off a big season for the Bearcats where she appeared in 9 matches, playing in 35 sets for the bearcats. Mallon led the team in kills with 124 on 377 attempt this past season averaging 3.56 kills per set, while hitting for .125% on the season during her junior season. Mallon also led the team in points the past season where she recorded 138.5 points for the Bearcats, averaging 3.96 points per set. Mallon also finished the season with nine service aces, averaging 0.26 service aces per set. Mallon finished the season 2nd on the team in digs as well, where she recorded 131 digs on the season averaging 3.74 digs per set.
Mallon has played a big role for the Bearcats volleyball program since arriving on campus back in 2018 as she earned 1st team All-AAC honors as a freshman in 2018 and again as a sophomore in 2019. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic so they played this past spring where Mallon was named 2nd Team All-AAC for the Bearcats.
When Mallon was a sophomore she played a big role for the Bearcats during their historic NCAA tournament run in 2019 as she recorded 19 kills for the Bearcats as they knocked off 6th ranked Pittsburgh including the final kill to secure the upset for the Bearcats. Mallon also recorded a double-double against 11th seed Penn State in the sweet 16 of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament where Mallon recorded 19 kills, 15 digs. The Bearcats ultimately fell just short to one of the top teams in the country in what was a high energy match, the Bearcats made history as that was their first trip to the NCAA Tournament and they didn’t disappoint.
After missing some time at the beginning of the 2021 season the experienced outside hitter came in and played an immediate impact for the Bearcats, not only as a viable offensive weapon for the Bearcats, but she was a leader on and off the court. You could sense the energy she brings as a player from the stands every play of every match. Mallon was not only a threat on the outside pin as a hitter, she has a very effective topspin serve that gives a lot of defenses problems and can easily throw the opposing teams out of system. Mallon also plays tremendous defense for the Bearcats as she reads the opposing hitters very well on defense as she has recorded 689 digs in her career so far.
Although, Mallon missed some time early in the season when she stepped on the court for the first time in the 2021 shortened spring season versus East Carolina University on February 11th versus at Fifth Third Arena it was like she never missed a beat. Mallon recorded a huge double double for the Bearcats finishing with 21 kills and 21 digs to propel the Bearcats to a victory to start off conference play. Mallon had some incredible performances this year during the shortened season and here’s just a few highlight stats from the past season that included a big day on March 4th, 2021 when the Bearcats traveled to South Florida and pulled off a thrilling 5 set victory over the Bulls where she recorded a season high 24 digs, as well as a season high three service aces while recording 21 kills. This performance right here set the Bearcats up with great momentum ahead of their upcoming series versus UCF where the Bearcats ultimately fell short and lost the series 0-2 to the Knights who eventually won the AAC Championship just a short time after. Mallon also recorded 23 kills, 18 digs on March 27th when the team traveled to Philadelphia to take on Temple University where they fell in a 5 set match 2-3.
Mallon is looking to have a big 2021 season as the Bearcats look to bounce back from the shortened 2021 season when they kick off their season this fall with a full capacity crowd back at Fifth Third Arena. We would like to congratulate Maria Mallon on becoming a Barstool Athlete and are looking forward to what’s next for her ahead of her senior season!
