Set 3– The Shockers would take an early 4-0 lead over the Bearcats behind kills from Brylee Kelly, Natalie Foster, and the Bearcats would look to find themselves in an early hole here to start Set 3. The Bearcats would rally back and take an 8-6 lead following kills from Alcantara and Madden, followed by another huge block as this time it was Madden and Walker to close the seam at the net. The Shockers would respond with a four point run stemming from a service ace from Lily Liekweg, followed by consecutive kills from Natalie Foster and Brylee Kelly, where they took a 13-12 lead over the Bearcats forcing Molly Alvey and the Bearcats to call timeout early. The Shockers would flip this to a 6 point run following another ace from Liekweg, and kill from Litzau, and the Bearcats would side out following a kill from Alcantara where the Bearcats now trailed 15-13. The Shockers would take a 21-17 lead following a huge block at the net on the attack attempt from Alcantara and the Bearcats were forced to use their final timeout as they looked to flip the momentum and make a late comeback here in Set 3. The Shockers would take set three 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead on the match.
Set 4– The Bearcats would take an early 5-2 lead over the Shockers following a huge ace from Shaye Eggleston, her fourth of the match along with a kill from Glendinning on the outside. The Shockers would rally back and make this a 9-9 game after consecutive blocks at the net and a Bearcat attacking error, and just like that the Bearcats early lead was erased. The Shockers would rally off a five-point run to take a 16-10 lead following kills from Foster and Kelly, along with an ace from Liekweg, her fourth of the match. The Bearcats would respond with a three point burst of their own following consecutive kills from Walker and another ace from Eggleston, this time her fifth of the match and the Bearcats trailed 16-13. The Bearcats weren’t shying away however, as they trailed by as much as six at one point, they fought back to make this a 20-19 game following a kill from Tatum, her 15th of night. The Shockers would take a 23-21 lead forcing the Bearcats to take their final timeout of the set as they looked to flip the momentum and take this one to a fifth and final set. The Shockers would finish the match on a 4-0 run and defeat the Bearcats 25-21 as they took the match three sets to one.
Notables- Avry Tatum led the Bearcats with 15 kills. Tatum now has recorded 10 or more kills in the last five matches for the Bearcats and continues to make a strong case for AAC freshman of the year.
Carly Glendinning recorded 14 kills on a .314% clip as she now makes it eight straight matches with 10 or more kills dating back to September 17th, 2022 vs Xavier.
Elissa Alcantara finished with nine kills and three blocks, all three blocks in which were solo blocks.
Abby Walker finished with eight kills and a team high five blocks.
Shaye Egglestone continued to dominate the serve receive game as she finished with a game high five service aces, along with 10 digs.
Payton Frederick finished with a team high 18 digs, her 9th straight match with 10 or more digs as she leads the Bearcats in digs as she was ranked 7th in the AAC coming into this match averaging 3.61 digs per set, (4.12) in AAC play.
The Bearcats fall to 4-13, (2-5 AAC), but they have a quick turnaround as they welcome in Tulsa (9-9) (2-4AAC) to Fifth Third Arena this Sunday at 12:30 pm where the Bearcats will look to bounce back in the win column.
