TicketsCINCINNATI - After finding itself down 2-0 in the match, the University of Cincinnati volleyball team was two points away from forcing a fifth set before falling 3-1 (21-25, 19-25, 25-14, 26-24) to the University of Memphis on Wednesday night in Fifth Third Arena.
Junior Emma Roberson (Brooks, Ky./Evansville) tied a career-high with 19 kills while hitting at a .366 clip to lead the Bearcats.
Cincinnati celebrated its Dig Pink campaign on Friday, auctioning off the team's pink jerseys to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research.
// Notables
- With the loss, Cincinnati is now to 13-8 on the season and 5-4 in the American while Memphis improves to 16-6 and 7-2.
- In its last two matches, Cincinnati has faced the top two teams in the American Athletic Conference in UCF and Memphis.
- Roberson's 19 kills were nine more than anyone else on the court. She also produced double-digit kills for the 14th time in the last 15 matches.
- Sophomore Lindsey Dinkelacker (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Louis) had a stellar night, recording a career-high 12 digs and tying a career-high with two service aces.
- Senior Jamie Netisingha (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central) produced a match-high 19 digs and has tallied double-digit digs in all but two matches this season.
- Senior Madi Lang (Commerce Township, Mich./Florida Atlantic) dished out 39 assists with eight digs and five kills in the match.
- Freshman Cortnee Bowser (Kent, Ohio/Theodore Roosevelt) hit seven kills without making an error, producing a .636 hitting percentage.
- Freshman Corie Flood (Villa Hills, Ky./Saint Henry) made her Cincinnati debut when she entered the match in the first set.
// Set Breakdown
Set 1: UM 25, UC 21
- Cincinnati scored four straight points, capped by a service ace by Dinkelacker, to go ahead 8-5 in the set.
- The Bearcats held the lead for most of the game until the Tigers responded with a run of eight of nine points to take a 22-20 lead.
- A kill by sophomore Ciara Hill (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) brought UC to within 22-21, but three consecutive UM points won the set at 25-21.
- Roberson led all scorers with five kills in the game.
Set 2: UM 25, UC 19
- The Tigers opened up a 9-6 lead but three straight kills by Boswer and a monster kill by Roberson gave UC a 10-9 lead and forced Memphis into a timeout.
- UM hung around until a pair of UC errors gave Memphis a 16-14 lead.
- The Tigers scored six more points out of a timeout to go ahead 22-15.
- A kill by UM's Veronica Zimmerman gave the Tigers a 25-19 win.
Set 3: UC 25, UCF 14
- Cincinnati dominated the third game, scoring seven of nine points to go ahead 15-9 and tacking on another three points with kills by senior Me'Ashah Nicholson (Shiloh, Ill./Belleville Althoff) and Roberson for a 19-10 lead.
- A UC scoring run of seven consecutive points, including kills by Nicholson, Roberson and junior Amelia Wegman (Aurora, Ill./Rosary) extended the Bearcats' lead to 22-10, essentially putting the game out of reach for the Tigers.
- Lang dumped the ball over the net for a kill on the final point of the game for a 25-14 UC victory.
- The Bearcats held the Tigers to a negative hitting percentage (-.067) in the set while combining for a .320 clip of their own.
- Five UC players tallied at least two kills in the game, including Roberson, Nicholson, Lang, Wegman and junior Morgan Allred (Carrolton, Texas/Hebron).
Set 4: UM 26, UC 24
- Cincinnati dug itself into a bit of a hole by allowing four straight points to the Tigers to fall behind 8-4.
- Allred propelled the Bearcats back into the match with a kill and back-to-back blocks to re-tie the score at 8-8.
- Memphis re-built its lead to as much as 21-17, but out of timeout by head coach Molly Alvey, Cincinnati surged, using two kills by Roberson and a service ace by Allred to complete the comeback and tie the score at 23-all.
- Three straight service errors by both teams gave Memphis match point at 25-24 and a service ace ended the UC threat to win the match 3-1.
// Up Next
Cincinnati faces a quick turnaround when it travels to ECU on Thursday for a match against the Pirates on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
// Follow the Bearcats
For all of the latest information on Cincinnati volleyball, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up to the minute updates, follow Cincinnati Volleyball (@cincinnativball) and Coach Alvey (@CoachAlveyUC) on twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Facebook and Instagram.
// Ticket Information
Season tickets for all 15 home matches can be purchased for as little $10. For more information, visitGoBEARCATS.com/tickets or call 1-877-CATS-TIX.
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