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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team won the first set but could not hold on to the lead, falling 3-1 (25-20, 14-25, 23-25, 23-25) in a hard-fought match to No. 16 Florida State in the opening round of the NCAA Championship on the campus of the University of Florida. Sophomore Jordan Thompson (Edina, Minn./Edina), the newly crowned American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, led all scorers with 28 kills and a .323 hitting percentage to lead the way for the Bearcats.
UC played a tough first set, using nine kills from Thompson and six from sophomore Carly Nolan (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) to top the Seminoles 25-20 and put the No. 16 team on notice. After a clinical second set from FSU, the teams battled through two close games with Florida State managing to come away with 25-23 wins in both to advance to the NCAA second round.
// NOTABLES
- Cincinnati ends the season with a 22-10 record.
- In addition to her 28 kills, Thompson added 13 digs, two service aces and a block, good for her 12th double-double of the season.
- Thompson recorded her 14th match with at least 20 kills and finished with double-digit kills in all but five matches this season.
- Thompson ends the year with a 4.92 kills per set ratio to rank sixth in the NCAA.
- Sophomore Jade Tingelhoff (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South) dished out a match-high 47 assists and recorded 13 digs for her 12th double-double of the year.
- Nolan finished one dig shy of a double-double with 14 kills, nine digs, two assists and one block.
- Senior Lise Alaiwan (Villeneuve Loubet, France/Kedge Business School) had a match-high six blocks to lead the Bearcats at the net.
- Sophomore Abby Williams (Loveland, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) collected a team-high 16 digs in the match while senior Lindsey Dinkelacker (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Louis) finished with 14.
- The Bearcats held Florida State to a .218 attacking percentage and closed the season by keeping 18 of their last 19 opponents under the .250 mark.
- Cincinnati topped the Seminoles in kills (57-53), assists (55-51) and service aces (four to one). FSU led in digs (77-68) and blocks (10.0-7.0)
- Cincinnati was playing in its first NCAA tournament game since the 2011 season after earning an at-large berth into the championship.
- The match closed the careers of seniors Alaiwan, Dinkelacker, Ciara Hill (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and Alison Kimmel (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield). All four played significant roles in the match vs. FSU and the entire season.
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC 25, FSU 20
- The Bearcats were down 11-9 before employing a six-point scoring run that saw kills by Thompson (two) and Nolan, for a 14-12 lead.
- A kill by Hill and an error from the Seminoles forced FSU into a timeout down 19-15.
- The Seminoles climbed back to within 22-19 but UC closed the game with kills by Thompson, Nolan and Alaiwan to win the first set 25-20.
Set 2: FSU 25, UC 14
- Florida State dominated from the get go in the second game, scoring at least three points at a time on five occasions.
- A six point scoring run by the Seminoles put the game out of reach for the Bearcats at 15-8 and a kill by Mara Green gave FSU the 25-14 win.
Set 3: FSU 25, UC 23
- UC scored four straight points to tie the score at 11-11 in the third game. A FSU service error followed by a service ace from Dinkelacker was the driving factor in the run for the Bearcats.
- Consecutive kills by FSU coupled with a Cincinnati attacking error forced head coach Molly Alvey into a timeout with her team facing a 20-16 deficit.
- The Bearcats scored four unanswered points to tie the score at 23-23 with kills from Nolan and Hill and back-to-back blocks by Alaiwan.
- A UC service error and an attacking error gave the Seminoles the final two points to win the game 25-23.
Set 4: FSU 25, UC 23
- The Bearcats grabbed the momentum early, scoring nine of 10 points for a 10-4 lead. Nolan scored on three kills during the run for UC.
- Florida State responded with four straight points to force a Cincinnati timeout at 10-7 and continued to chip away at the Bearcats' lead until it finally tied the score at 15-15.
- A Seminoles error, a Thompson kill and a Williams ace gave UC a 21-19 lead, but a kill by FSU and back-to-back Cincinnati attacking errors put the Seminoles back in the lead at 22-21.
- Kills by Thompson brought UC within 23-22 and 24-23, however Florida State put away a kill to win the game by the slim two-point margin and win the match 3-1.
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