That was simply the takeaway in that match was how dominant the Bearcats were at the net, as they had 18 blocks between Walker, Mallon, Williams and Oliver. The Bearcats found themselves trailing 2 sets to 1, but they found their stride and rallied together to pull off the victory in 5 sets including a wild 15-13 win in Set 5 and it all started with the play at the net.
The Bearcats knew they had to turn their focus towards their next opponent very quickly, as they had a day to prepare for their match versus UCF, they were looking to make it 6 consecutive wins in a row. They knew they’d have to be on their “A” game going into that match versus UCF, knowing they fell to the in back to matches last season, they wanted to find a way to get back and get revenge from the spring season.
The Bearcats, were led by Shannon Williams as she recorded 12 kills, followed by Abby Walker with eight kills and Adria Oliver with seven kills. The Bearcats just couldn’t flip the switch to over come an early 25-23 loss in Set 1. After gaining momentum late in the set they were looking to come back from a 5 point deficit to extend this set and try to steal it from the Knights, but fell just short. The Bearcats couldn’t find the momentum they needed late in the match as they fell in straight sets to see their win streak come to an end at five consecutive games. The Bearcats though have been playing some tremendous volleyball to start their season as they went on a five game win streak including 2 big wins over rivals Xavier and Miami(OH) sparking a lot of momentum within the locker room, as those were two big wins especially early in the season.
The Knights on the other hand were returning the reigning AAC player of the year in McKenna Melville, the outside was looking to prove she was a force within the AAC coming into this match. The Bearcats knew they would have to find a way to contain her but the outside was just finding a way to put balls away for the Knights. Melville, who led the match in kills with 15 kills propelled the Knights to a big 3 set to 0 victory over the Bearcats. The Bearcats were outplayed at the net as the Knights out blocked the Bearcats 14-0 which was a huge factor in the match, a big component to the Knights success is the dominated the net play and found ways to put balls away.
After finishing 1-1 on the week the Bearcats got some good news as freshman middle blocker Abby Walker was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll for her performances last week where she recorded 15 kills and five blocks. The freshman continues to have a hot start to her career as a Bearcat, as she has recorded 93 kills, 23 blocks, and six service aces through the first 10 games of the season.
The Bearcats will look to bounce back after falling to UCF when they return to action this Friday night, when they welcome Memphis to Fifth Third Arena at 6:30 pm. The Bearcats will also welcome in SMU on Sunday at 1 pm for a big weekend of volleyball at Fifth Third Arena, so make sure to come out and support the Bearcats as they look to strike early within conference play.
