Starters for the Redbirds – Katelyn Lefler, Kaity Weimerskirch, Aida, Shadewald, Sarah Kushner, Kaitlyn Prondzinski, Nicole Lund, Raigan Haith
Starters for the Bearcats- Kailea Carrier, Carly Glendinning, Shaye Eggleston, Avry Tatum, Payton Frederick, Caroline Endres, Abby Walker.
Set 1- The Bearcats got the momentum flowing early after freshman outside Carly Glendinning recorded a service ace to start the match, followed by a huge block up front from Kailea Carrier and Avry Tatum that gave the Bearcats a 2-0 lead out of the gate, with all the momentum to start. The Bearcats would get the ball in Abby Walker’s hands early as she recorded three early kills, that would give the Bearcats an early 7-5 lead here in Set 1, before the Redbirds would find some momentum to take a 11-9 lead forcing Molly Alvey and the Bearcats to call timeout to stop the Redbird run after a 4-0 swing of things gave the Redbirds some momentum to build on after a slow start. The Bearcats would rally back and tie this one at 13 after a service ace from Paige Pickering, However the Redbirds would rattle off another 3-point run to take a 16-13 lead following an ace from Sarah Kushner, before Abby Walker ended the run with a huge kill. However, the Redbirds would push their lead to 19-14 behind great defense at the net from the Redbirds where they have out blocked the Bearcats 4-1. The Redbirds wouldn’t look back after establishing the momentum late in the set where they took set 1 25-16 over the Bearcats where they were led by Sarah Kushner who led the way with three kills, but Kaity Weimerskirch dominated the serving game recording three service aces in Set 1, which caused a lot of issues for the Bearcats in serve receive.
Set 2- The Bearcats would take a nearly 4-2 lead after two early service errors by the Redbirds, and a huge block by Caroline Endres and Abby Walker. Illinois State would rally back to tie this one at 5 after a quick 3-point spurt to get something going before the Bearcats would run away early. We would see back and forth action from there as we were tied at 8 after exchanging a set of kills here at Fifth Third Arena. The Redbirds would tie this up following kills from Sarah Kushner and Nicole Lund, and a service ace by Aida Shadwald, but the Bearcats responded with a 3 point run of their own to take a 14-11 lead, in a sport of runs, this was a huge momentum changer for the Bearcats after kills from Carly Glendinning, and Abby Walker, along with a block from Kailea Carrier the Bearcats seemed to have something rolling here at Fifth Third. The Bearcats would burst the lead to as much as 6 where they lead 17-11 as Kailea Carrier and Abby Walker were dominating the net, forcing Illinois State to make a lot of errors or hit into a very big block up front, and the Redbirds found themselves in a huge hole here in Set 2. The Bearcats would lead 20-16 before taking a timeout to settle back in after a 3-point run by the Redbirds, Sarah Norcom would change the momentum for the Bearcats after the timeout with a kill to stop the Redbird run. The Redbirds were looking to fight back down the final stretch where the cut the Bearcats to lead to one, where they trailed 24-23 as Molly Alvey was forced to take a timeout to calm the momentum as the Bearcats were looking to tie this one up at one set a piece. The Bearcats would take Set 2, 25-23 after a great pass in serve receive from Tobergte would set Abby Walker up for a cross court kill to tie this one up here at Fifth Third Arena.
Set 3. – The Bearcats would take an early 4-2 lead behind kills from Kailea Carrier and Carly Glendinning, before extending that lead to 6-3 forcing a Redbird timeout following a kill from Avry Tatum. The Redbirds would look to build some momentum after a service ace from Nora Janka, but freshman setter Caroline Endres had other thing planned after rattling off 4 straight service aces to give the Bearcats a 14-6 lead in Set 2 that sparked a 6 point run. The Bearcats weren’t slowing down there after building off that substantial momentum change, they’d take a huge 17-7 lead, and the momentum was all in favor of coach Alvey and the Bearcats and they were looking to close the door on Set 2, where they dominated from start to finish. The Bearcats would take a 23-10 lead a huge stuff block from Avry Tatum on the right-side pin. The Bearcats would close the door on Set 3, and take a 2-1 lead over the Redbirds after a statement kill from Ligia Williams, to give the Bearcats a 25-12 Set 3 victory. The Bearcats would rally home 14 kills, along with no attacking errors in Set 3, for a hitting percentage of.483% which is actually insane for college volleyball as a team statistic.
Set 4- The Bearcats would take an early 4-1 lead after a huge block by Carrier, was followed by consecutive kills from Glendinning, and the Bearcats were looking to put this match away after dropping Set 1. The Bearcats would take an 10-8 lead here in Set 4 as the Redbirds were looking to extend this one to a 5th set in a winner takes all match, as they would tie this one up at 11 a few minutes later. This one would go back and forth as the Bearcats held a 16-15 lead following a Carly Glendinning service ace, but the Bearcats would enter the final stretch of Set 4 in a neck and neck battle with Illinois State, before the Redbirds sparked a 3 point run to take a 19-17 lead after a Ragan Haith Service ace forced the Bearcats to take a timeout. The Redbirds would come out of the timeout with the momentum after another service ace from Ragan Haith gave the Redbirds a 21-17 lead, the Bearcats followed with a kill from Avry Tatum to end the run, followed by an overpass kill from Ligia Williams, and another kill from Tatum, the Bearcats would force Illinois State to call timeout leading 22-20 here in Set 4. The Bearcats would fall 25-20 here in Set 4 and we would head to Set 5 with the match on the line.
Set 5- The Bearcats would come out striking after a net violation by the Redbirds, followed by a Glendinning kill, and Redbirds attacking error the Bearcats found themselves with a nice 3-0 lead early in set 5. The Bearcats would push their lead to four following a huge kill from Abby Walker, followed by a service ace from Paige Pickering to give the Bearcats a 6-2 lead over the Redbirds. The Bearcats would hold an 8-3 lead at the interchange of the final set, but the Redbirds rallied back after a slow start to cut the Bearcats lead to 1, where they trailed 10-9 after a 6-2 run. The Momentum would favor the Redbirds after taking a 13-12 lead over the Bearcats following a service ace from Sarah Kushner, the Bearcats were looking to stop the run as it was first to 15, but the Redbirds stood tall with a big block at the net that sparked a 4-point run to end this one where they would take Set 5 15-12.
Overall, the Bearcats showed a very tough battle and a lot of positive things in a hard fought 5 set match versus a very good Illinois State team. A season ago they were led by a lot of returning players with a lot of playing experience in Maria Mallon, Shannon Williams and Adria Oliver, but coach Alvey saw a lot of positive things from the freshman today that included outside hitters Carly Glendinning, Avry Tatum, along with setter Caroline Endres, and Paige Pickering. The Bearcats were led by Abby Walker who finished with a team high 13 kills, five blocks, as the reigning freshman of the year looked to be a huge part of the Bearcats offense throughout the first match today. Carly Glendinning finished with 12 kills, two service aces, 11 digs, to record her first double-double of her Bearcat career. Ligia Williams also recorded nine kills and two blocks. Avry Tatum dominated the net with three huge blocks, and nine kills, as her and Kailea Carrier held the fort for the Bearcats defense at the net, Carrier finished with a team high five blocks, along with seven kills. Freshman Caroline Endres did a great job controlling the offense for the Bearcats, where she recorded 46 assists, four service aces, 12 digs, two blocks in her Bearcat debut. Endres really was settling in after the Bearcats dropped the first set 25-16, Endres changed the momentum for the Bearcats early in the 3rd set where she rattled off four straight service aces, that sparked a big 6 point run to give the Bearcats a huge 13-6 lead and the Bearcats wouldn’t look back from there, as they would hold on to dominate the Redbirds 25-12. Libero Payton Frederick really anchored the back-end line for the Bearcats where she recorded a team high 18 digs for the Bearcats. Overall, the Bearcats saw a lot of positive things in game one of the days as they were looking to rebuild the talent they lost from a season ago, and if there is one thing, I did notice is that coach Alvey did just that, as the Bearcats will feature a lot of talented players and should make an immediate impact as the season is now underway. In a hard-fought match the Bearcats fell just short in Set 5, but if there is one thing about this sport it is a game of runs, and the Redbirds fought hard, and found their runs late in the match when they needed them the most as they pull off the victory in Set 5. The Bearcats showed the depth this team has however, as 12 players saw action in the 5-set journey with Illinois State, which is a great thing to have if you’re coach Alvey and staff, as it allows you to fire on all angles offensively.
The Bearcats will be back in action for game 2 of the Tribute to 10 tournament tonight at 6:30 pm when they take on uptown rival Dayton in the final contest of the day here at Fifth Third Arena.
