Set 4- The Bearcats kept the momentum rolling as they were looking to close this match out as they started with a kill from Madison Waters, followed by a kill from Shannon Williams, as well as back to back service aces from Kerstin Ficker and the Bearcats found themselves with an early 4-2 lead. The Bearcats had a 7-5 advantage over the Shockers before they started clicking on offense, as they went on a 5 point run to take a 10-7 lead. During that Span the Bearcats were struggling to keep the ball in play as they had three consecutive hitting errors to allow Wichita State to climb back in and take the lead. The Bearcats knew they had to find a way to put a ball away and flip the momentum back to their favor, and that is exactly what junior Madison Waters did as she had a big kill, followed by a shocker attacking error, and Mallon kill, and next thing you know the Bearcats tied the set at 14. It was a neck and neck battle down the stretch as the shockers were trying to send this battle to a fifth set as they found a way to contain the Bearcats dominant offense and fight to a final fifth set after holding a 2 point lead down the stretch. The Bearcats trailled 24-21 before back to back kills from Maria Mallon, to make it 24-23 favoring the Shockers, the Bearcats fell just short and dropped a hard fought set 25-23, and we were headed to a fifth set, a set that is only played to 15 points so the Bearcat knew they’d have to come out quick if they were looking to continue that 5 game win streak.
Set 5- The Shockers came out with all the momentum as the Bearcats found themselves in a quick 4-0 hole after a pair of aces from Lily Liekweg, before a service error gave the Bearcats their first point of the set, however the Bearcats handed it right back to the shockers and were in a 6-1 hole early. The Shockers extended the lead to 9-2 before the Bearcats went on a 3-0 run after a pair of shocker errors, and a Mallon Kill, could the Bearcats rally and overcome an early 9-2 deficit? However the Shockers continued to put points on the board and after a big early lead, the Bearcats just couldn’t find a way to dig themselves out of that 9-2 lead and fell to the Shockers 15-10 to win the Match 3 sets to 2.
Overall, the Bearcats knew they were in for a fight as both teams riding a long win streak of 4 games straight, the Bearcats knew they had to come out and make a statement early. The Bearcats were getting everyone involved on offense as Emme Madden was making sure to spread the ball around as the Bearcats had five different players with 10 or more kills. Abby Walker had 10 kills and one block as the freshman was continuing to make her mark for this Bearcat offense. Madison Waters making her first appearance of the season also recorded 11 kills, as she provided a spark every time the Bearcats needed to flip some momentum. Opposite hitter Shannon Williams also recorded 11 kills and one block as she continues to have a fantastic senior season after switching from setter to opposite hitter just a little over a year ago. Bearcat middle hitter Kailea Carrier has started to find her groove as of lately as she recorded 13 kills for the Bearcats and was a disruptive force in the middle as the 6-foot-5 junior was showing teams why shes such a dynamic weapon up front for the Bearcats. Maria Mallon finished with a match high 22 kills, 2 aces, 18 digs and one block. Mallon recorded her 100th career service ace late in set 4, as she also has now moved into 9th in school history in the points scored during the rally scoring era. Libero Payton Frederick recorded a match high 27 digs, six assists as the junior held down the back row and did a tremendous job setting up Emme Madden to run the Bearcats offense. Emme Madden finished with 58 assists, 14 digs and one block to continue onto her incredible start to her freshman season for the Bearcats. However the Bearcats fell in a tough, hard fought, 5 set thriller to Wichita State, as the Bearcats are now tied for 2nd in the American Athletic Conference with a (6-2) record in the AAC and are now sitting 11-5 overall after winning 10 of their last 12 matches.
The Bearcats will be back in action this Friday at 6:30 as they welcome Houston to Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats also welcome Tulane to Fifth Third Arena this Sunday at 1 pm, and I will suggest if you haven’t made it out to a Bearcats volleyball match, you defiantly should come check out this team, as they are full of energy and are looking to make it back to the NCAA tournament, admission is free so make sure to come support the volleyball program.
