This afternoon the Bearcats (5-14) (3-6 AAC) welcomed in the USF Bulls (7-12) (1-6 AAC) to Fifth Third Arena as the Bearcats look to bounce back after a tough 3-0 loss to UCF Friday Night. The Bearcats were led by Elissa Alcantara who finished with a team high eight kills on Friday, along with Payton Frederick who recorded a match high 13 digs.
Starters for the Bearcats- Abby Walker, Kailea Carrier, Avry Tatum, Carly Glendinning, Emme Madden, Payton Frederick, Shaye Eggleston,
Starters for the Bulls- CC Clausen, Ally Barnhart, Amanda Dewitt, Regan Kinard, Marta Cvitkovic, Kelsey O’Loughlin, Alexis Williams.
Set 1- The Bearcats would jump out to an early 4-0 lead after Tatum started the match with a service ace that was followed by a kill from sophomore outside Shaye Eggleston, but the Bulls committing two straight attacking errors forced an early timeout as they tried to stop the Bearcats early momentum. The Bearcats kept their foot on the gas as they forced another huge four point run to take a 13-4 lead following consecutive kills from Carrier and Eggleston, where Maria Tobergte would follow up with another service ace, the Bearcats fourth of the match that would force the Bulls to use their final timeout early. The Bulls would respond perfectly with a six-point run as they looked to flip the momentum here after the Bearcats dominated early to cut the Bearcats lead to 15-10. The Bulls would rally back after that run sparked a lot of momentum, but the Bearcats were keeping their foot on the gas as they rallied off a 4-point run to take a 24-16 lead, where they would eventually close the door and take Set 1, 25-17 following a huge kill from Avry Tatum. The Bearcats dominated recording four service aces while hitting from a .367% clip to start the match.
Set 2- The Bearcats would jump out to a huge 6-1 lead over the Bulls, as Abby Walker would record a pair of service aces as the Bearcats were looking to set the tone early as they continued to dominate the service line. The Bearcats early run to start the set as the Bearcats really set the tone as they rallied off another huge six point run following kills from Tatum, and Eggleston forced a Bulls timeout as the Bearcats lead 15-6. The Bearcats just dominated from the start where they outplayed the Bulls in all aspects as they took Set 2, 25-13 to take an early 2 set to 0 lead over the Bulls.
