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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team recorded 18.0 blocks in a 3-1 victory over Middle Tennessee State on Saturday morning in the second match of the DISH Tennessee Classic in Knoxville, Tennessee. The tally is the most for UC since November 16, 2007, when it tallied 18.5 blocks in a 3-1 loss to Notre Dame.
Redshirt senior Alison Kimmel (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) earned the start and registered career-high marks in blocks (nine), digs (seven) and assists (four) while adding six kills and a .600 attacking percentage for the Bearcats. Sophomore Jordan Thompson (Edina, Minn./Edina) again led all scorers with 16 kills while adding six digs and tying a career high with four blocks.
// NOTABLES
- Cincinnati moved to 1-1 on the year while MTSU fell to 1-1 after beating Louisiana-Monroe in the opening match of the DISH Tennessee Classic on Friday.
- Thompson's 16 kills bring her weekend total to 39 and a per set ratio of 4.87 with one match to go in the tournament.
- Redshirt sophomore Elly Ogle (Ft. Mitchell, Ky./LSU) contributed an all-around performance with 31 assists, nine digs, six blocks, three kills and two service aces.
- Senior Ciara Hill (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) tied a career-high with six blocks while adding nine kills and four digs.
- Junior Maya Muldrow (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) tied a career high with eight blocks and finished with four kills.
- Sophomore Carly Nolan (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) ended the match one kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and a match-high 15 digs while adding three blocks, two aces and two assists.
- The team earned eight service aces with two apiece from Ogle, Nolan, Kimmel and senior Lindsey Dinkelacker (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Louis).
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: MTSU 25, UC 22
- A four-point scoring run for the Blue Raiders gave MTSU an early 7-3 lead but the Bearcats responded with six of the next seven points for a 9-8 lead. The Bearcats got kills from Hill and Kimmel during the run.
- A Cincinnati error and a Middle Tennessee service ace broke a 16-16 tie and put the Blue Raiders ahead 18-16.
- Back-to-back kills by Hill and Thompson re-tied the score at 22-22 but MTSU stormed back to score the final three points of the set and win Game 1 25-22.
Set 2: UC 25, MTSU 23
- Kills by Ogle and Nolan and a service ace by Dinkelacker gave the Bearcats a 9-7 advantage.
- Three straight MTSU errors surged Cincinnati ahead to a 14-10 lead and forced a timeout from the Blue Raiders.
- The Bearcats held the four-point lead through 18-14 until a kill by Ogle, an Ogle/Kimmel block and a Dinkelacker ace made it 21-14 Bearcats.
- MTSU rallied for four straight points to get within 24-23 but Thompson put the ball away on the final set point opportunity for a 25-23 UC win to tie the match at 1-1.
Set 3: UC 25, MTSU 14
- UC held an 8-5 lead when a service error and an attacking error by the Bearcats closed the gap to 8-7. An MTSU service error and a kill by Nolan pushed the Bearcats back to a three-point advantage.
- The Blue Raiders were caught out of rotation for a UC point before an Ogle ace made it 14-8 and forced an MTSU timeout.
- Another four-point scoring fun for UC with kills by Kimmel and Thompson and a Thompson/Muldrow block brought the score to 20-12.
- The Bearcats scored the final three points of the game with kills by Kimmel and Hill and a Middle Tennessee attacking error for a 25-14 victory.
Set 4: UC 25, MTSU 14
- Cincinnati raced out to an 8-1 lead and never looked back, leading by nine or 10 points for most of the game.
- A kill by Hill followed by consecutive kills by Thompson gave UC a 21-9 lead.
- On UC's second match-point opportunity, MTSU hit a ball wide to give the Bearcats their first win of the season.
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will close the DISH Tennessee Classic this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. vs. Louisiana-Monroe.
// 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 (@GoBearcatsVB) and Coach Alvey (@CoachAlveyUC) on twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Facebook (GoBearcatsVB) and Instagram (GoBearcatsVB).
// EXPERIENCE UC
The University of Cincinnati department of athletics announced an initiative entitled Experience UC, geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending women's basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, swimming and diving and track and field home events.