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TULSA, Okla. - It was a banner night for the middle blocker tandem of senior Me'Ashah Nicholson (Shiloh, Ill./Belleville Althoff) and freshman Cortnee Bowser (Kent, Ohio/Theodore Roosevelt) as the University of Cincinnati volleyball team fell in a tough 3-2 (26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 11-15) battle at the University of Tulsa on Friday evening.
Nicholson and Bowser recorded 18 kills apiece for the Bearcats with .421 and .341 hitting percentages, respectively. The pair also combined for 14 blocks on the night.
// Notables
- With the loss, Cincinnati is now to 13-12 on the season and 5-8 in the American Athletic Conference while Tulsa improves to 16-8 and 8-5.
- Bowser's 18 kills and eight blocks were both career highs for the freshman.
- Nicholson finished one kill shy of her career high (19).
- Senior Madi Lang (Commerce Township, Mich./Florida Atlantic) produced a stellar match with 27 assists, 15 digs, seven blocks and five kills. It was her fourth double-double of the season, and third consecutive, while also topping her previous career high in blocks.
- Senior Jamie Netisingha (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central) collected 21 digs and has recorded double-digit digs in all but two matches this season. She also has surpassed the 20-dig mark on 10 occasions this season.
- In addition to Netisingha and Lang, junior Morgan Allred (Carrolton, Texas/Hebron) and sophomore Lindsey Dinkelacker (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Louis) also recorded double-digit digs with 15 and 14, respectively.
- As a team, Cincinnati recorded a season-high 14.5 blocks.
// Alvey's Additions
"Our middles did such a great job tonight of attacking and blocking" head coach Molly Alvey said. "I am proud of both of them for executing. As a team, we need to learn how to score points at the end of sets. Once we figure that out, we will continue to grow our success."
// Set Breakdown
Set 1: UC 26, TU 24
- Cincinnati opened a 4-0 lead in the match behind kills from Nicholson and Allred.
- The lead increased to 11-4 with a kill and a block from Bowser.
- Tulsa scored five straight points to tie the score at 12-12 and took a 14-13 lead on a dump from setter Bailey Clampitt.
- Six straight points by Cincinnati put the visitors ahead 19-14. Dinkelacker recorded a service ace during the run and the Bearcats were aided by three Tulsa attacking errors.
- TU re-tied the score at 24-24, but back-to-back kills by Nicholson gave the Bearcats the 26-24 win in the opening set.
Set 2: TU 25, UC 19
- Tulsa jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, causing a Cincinnati timeout. The Bearcats hit four attacking errors to contribute to the lead.
- The Golden Hurricane increased the lead to 18-8 with four straight points, including back-to-back kills.
- Facing set point for Tulsa at 24-16, the Bearcats scored three straight points to get within 24-19 and force a Hurricane timeout before a TU kill ended the set at 25-19.
Set 3: UC 25, TU 22
- Cincinnati scored four of five points to take an early 8-3 lead and force a Tulsa timeout. Nicholson, Bowser and Dinkelacker all tallied early kills for UC.
- Tulsa responded with six of the next seven points to tie the score at 9-all.
- The Bearcats went back ahead 21-17 after a kill by Lang but two straight TU points got the Golden Hurricane within 21-19.
- With Allred serving for the game, Tulsa's Erica Bohannon sent a ball long and the Bearcats won the game 25-22 to take a 2-1 match advantage.
Set 4: TU 25, UC 22
- Tulsa broke a 6-6 tie with four consecutive points, including two UC errors, to go ahead 10-6 and push Coach Alvey into a timeout.
- Cincinnati responded out of the timeout with four points of its own to tie the score at 10-10 and then take a 12-11 lead on a kill by Allred.
- A kill and two blocks by Bowser gave the Bearcats a 20-18 lead, but the Golden Hurricane rallied with four straight points for a 23-21 lead.
- Facing set point, a UC attacking error gave TU the 25-22 win to force game five.
Set 5: TU 15, UC 11
- Tulsa started the set with two points but Cincinnati registered three straight with a block and a kill by Nicholson to go ahead 3-2.
- A four-point scoring run for the Golden Hurricane put TU up 9-6.
- The Bearcats fought back to get within 12-11 on Nicholson's 18th kill of the match, but a couple Cincinnati miscues gave Tulsa match point at 14-11.
- A Cincinnati overpass led to a strong kill for Tulsa and the Golden Hurricane won the game 15-11 and took the match 3-1.
// Up Next
Cincinnati travels to the Lone Star State for a matchup with SMU in Dallas on Sunday, Nov. 9. The match will begin at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.
// 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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