The Bearcats (2-8) traveled to New Orleans to kick off conference play where they would take on Tulane (5-7) as they looked to bounce back in the win column after a tough five set match with crosstown rival Xavier.
Starters for the Bearcats- Kailea Carrier, Abby Walker, Carly Glendinning, Payton Frederick, Avry Tatum, Caroline Endres, Marie Tobergte.
The Bearcats would bring the momentum early as they jumped out to a 5-2 lead early in set one behind consecutive kills from freshman outside hitter Carly Glendinning as the freshman duo connection between Caroline Endres and Glendinning was looking to get going early for the Bearcats. The Green Wave, however, would come back and tie this match at 8 after a 4-point swing of things behind a flurry of Bearcats errors. The Bearcats and Green Wave would exchange point for point before each team rattled off a 3-point run late in the set. The Bearcats would end on a 3-point run to take Set 1, 28-26 behind a kill Elissa Alcantara who was making her Bearcats debut after missing the team’s first 10 games. The Bearcats would close the door on set one after a huge ace from Glendinning to give the Bearcats an early 1 set lead over the Green Wave.
The Green Wave would come back and take Set 2 over the Bearcats, despite an early 3-0 start from the Bearcats. The Green Wave would rip off a 5 point run to take an early 10-8 lead before they extended their lead to 3 where they led the Bearcats 19-16 before they finished set two on a 6-point run behind three service aces from Kate Van Houton to close set 2, 25-16 and tie this match at 1 set apiece.
Set three would be back and forth battle despite the Bearcats taking a 3-0 lead to start as the Green Wave were looking to battle back after a slow start. A back-and-forth battle to the end would give the Bearcats a 16-14 lead as the Bearcats would look to keep their foot on the gas and take a 2 set to 1 lead over the Greenwave. Despite a late effort from the Green Wave the Bearcats would take Set 3 26-24 behind a huge kill from Abby Walker. The Green Wave were going down without a fight and they showed that in Set 3, but they knew they had to get something going if they wanted to extend this match to a 5th set.
The Bearcats would look to close the door on the match in Set 4 as the Bearcats would jump out to a 7-4 lead over Tulane after consecutive kills from Glendinning and a service ace from Abby Walker, the Bearcats would look to establish their momentum early here in Set 4. Tulane would respond with a 4 point run to take an 9-8 lead before the Bearcats would settle in and go point for point with the GreenWave before a sparking a 19-16 lead behind an ace from Caroline Endres that forced a Tulane timeout as they looked to flip the momentum and find a way to rally late in Set 4. The Bearcats would capitlize late on the Green Wave errors and they would close the match as Abby Walker hammered away the final kill to give the Bearcats a 3 set to 1 victory over the Green Wave.
Notables.
Freshman Carly Glendinning led the Bearcats with a career high 17 kills, finishing the match with a .300% hitting percentage.
Abby Walker finished with 11 kills, four digs and three blocks.
Avry Tatum finished with 10 kills and three blocks.
Caroline Endres finished with a game high 47 assists as she continued to facilitate the Bearcats offense.
Bearcats libero Payton Frederick finished with a game high 17 digs.
The Bearcats will be back in action tomorrow as they travel to Houston and take on the Cougars tomorrow at 2 pm in what will be a great challenge within the AAC.
