Tickets// FIRST SERVE
The University of Cincinnati volleyball team returns to the court this weekend for a trio of matches across town at the Xavier Tournament hosted by rival Xavier inside the Cintas Center Friday and Saturday. The Bearcats open the weekend by facing the crosstown Musketeers in a 7 p.m. match Friday night before facing both Texas State (10 a.m.) and Western Michigan (4 p.m.) Saturday to close out the event.
// COME SEE US
The first five weeks of the season will see the Bearcats hit the road for their first 14 matches of the season. This week, however, will be the closest to home the team will play until their home opener September 29 against Tulsa at St. Ursula Academy. While the Bearcats are away from home this week, they will be just down the street as all three matches will be played at Xavier, just over four miles away from the UC campus.
// FOLLOW US
For up to the minute updates, follow UC Volleyball (@GoBearcatsVB) and Coach Alvey (@CoachAlveyUC) on Twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Facebook (GoBearcatsVB) and Instagram (GoBearcatsVB).
// GOING LIVE
Live stats will be available for all three matches this weekend through GoXavier.com. Also, Friday's match with the Musketeers will be streamed live online through Xavier's web site.
// #HOUSTONSTRONG
Hurricane Harvey has caused widespread flooding throughout the Houston area. The University of Cincinnati Department of Athletics stands with our longtime partners at the University of Houston and the City of Houston during these tough times. Those wishing to help with relief efforts in and around the Houston area are encouraged to donate through the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Cincinnati-based Matthew 25: Ministries. Please visit any of those organization's web sites to see how you can assist.
// WEEKEND RECAP
• Cincinnati played in the Bluegrass Battle in Lexington, Ky., last week, going 0-3 in the tournament
• The Bearcats lost, 3-0, to #24 Utah before falling to Arkansas State, 3-1, to close out the first day
• UC fell to #14 Kentucky, 3-0, in the Saturday finale
• Carly Nolan was named the all-tournament team following the event
• Nolan recorded a double-double against the host Wildcats, recording 11 kills and 10 digs
• In the opener with the Utes, Jade Tingelhoff posted a double-double as she handed out 22 assists to go along with the 10 digs she recorded
• Elly Ogle had a strong match against Arkansas State as she recorded her first career double-double with 12 kills and 18 digs in the match with the Red Wolves
• Nolan led the Bearcats with 40 kills total for the weekend (4.00/set) while Ogle and Tingelhoff led with 26 digs and Tingelhoff posted 89 assists
• Jasmine Jones recorded a team-high 11 kills in her debut weekend with the Bearcats
// MORE ON OGLE'S DOUBLE
Not only did Ogle record the first double-double of her career with 12 kills and 18 digs against Arkansas State, she did so with big jumps in production over her previous career bests. Heading into the match, Ogle had posted three kills in a match three times and recorded nine digs once before tripling and doubling her career bests, respectively.
// HAPPY TO HELP
With her 28th and final assist in the match at #14 Kentucky, Tingelhoff recorded the 2,250th assist of her career. She is currently ranked fourth on the program's all-time rally scoring era assists ladder and ninth all-time.
// KNOW THE FOE: XAVIER
The Musketeers enter Friday's match with a 3-1 record. Xavier opened the year a 3-0 showing at the Hampton Inn Invitational in Bowling Green, Ohio, with wins overs Duquesne (3-0), Illinois-Chicago (3-1) and the host Falcons (3-0). Tuesday night, XU dropped a 3-1 decision to visiting Miami (Ohio) in its home opener. Christy Pfeffenberger's team is led by Kristen Massa, who holds a 4.50 kills/set ratio while Mackenzi Humm is handing out 7.50 assists/set.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. MUSKETEERS
Cincinnati and Xavier have met 33 times previously with the Bearcats holding a 22-11-0 record in the series. The Bearcats won the last meeting, 3-1, at home in 2015 to snap a three-match slide to their crosstown rivals in a series that dates back to 1975. The last time the two teams met at Xavier came in 2014 with the host Musketeers taking a 3-0 win.
// IN THE REGION
When looking at the series records for the regional teams (Xavier, Northern Kentucky, Miami, Dayton and Wright State), the Bearcats hold an overall record of 94-63-1 all-time. When looking at each series, UC has recorded 22 wins against three different teams: Xavier (22-11-0), Miami (22-14-0) and Dayton (22-21-0) with 21 wins against Wright State (21-11-0). A win over XU Friday would be the most wins over any of the teams in the region.
// KNOW THE FOE: TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats enter the weekend with a 1-1 record after defeating Sam Houston State (3-0) and falling the VCU (0-3) at the Texas A&M Invitational last week. Texas State's third match - against host TAMU - was cancelled as Hurricane Harvey approached Texas. The Bobcats are led by Karen Chisum, who is in her 38th year at the helm of the program. Megan Porter currently leads the TSU attack with a 4.00 kills/set average while Brooke Johnson has recorded 5.33 assists/set. Defensively, Mattie Adams has recorded 2.80 digs/set while Halee Brewer is averaging 0.83 blocks/set.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. BOBCATS
Saturday's match will be the first in the series between UC and Texas State. It also will mark the second week in a row that UC has faced a team from the Sun Belt Conference for the first time after opening the series with Arkansas State in Lexington, Ky., Friday night.
// KNOW THE FOE: WESTERN MICHIGAN
The Broncos opened their season at the DISH Tennessee Classic and posted a 1-2 overall record. Western Michigan fell to host Tennessee (3-1) and finished with a 3-2 set back to Wofford with a 3-1 victory over George Washington sandwiched between. Colleen Munson is in her 12th year at WMU and recently won her 300th match with the Broncos. WMU is led by Sydney LeMay, who holds averages of 3.12 kills/set and 0.94 blocks/set.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. BRONCOS
Saturday's match will be the ninth in the series between UC and WMU and the first since the 2009 season. Overall, the Broncos hold a 7-1-0 advantage and won the last meeting, 3-1, at WMU.
// DEBUTS
Five different players made their debuts for the Bearcats Friday, including three true freshman, one redshirt freshman and one junior transfer. The rookies that saw action in the first two matches of the season included Emily Azzara, Maya Eller and Chrysanthi Stamatiou. They joined Erica Kostelac (redshirt) and Jasmine Jones, a transfer from UNC Greensboro.
// NOLAN ON THE ATTACK
Through the first weekend of play, Carly Nolan finds herself ranked in several statistical categories both in the conference and nationally. On a conference level, she is tied for second with 4.00 kills/set and ranks fifth in points with a 4.20/set average. Nationally, her 12.20 attacks/set ranks 29th (leads the American) while her kills per set total ranks her 76th in the NCAA.
// MORE CONFERENCE RANKS
• Jade Tingelhoff ranks fifth in the league with 8.90 assists/set
• Maya Eller ranks tied for eighth with 0.40 service aces/set
• Jasmine Jones ranks eighth with 1.10 blocks/set
// SMILE FOR THE CAMERA
Speaking of the conference, the American Athletic Conference recently announced the fall broadcast schedule for the American Digital Network with Bearcats volleyball set to be aired live October 26 when UC travels to Dallas to face SMU.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// LOTS RETURNING
Following a 17-3 campaign and runner-up finish in the American Athletic Conference last year, several members of the program were honored by the league with nearly all those honorees returning in 2017. Returning this year are Jordan Thompson, the AAC Player of the Year, Jade Tingelhoff, the AAC Setter of the Year, and Carly Nolan, who, along with Thompson and Tingelhoff, was named First Team All-Conference. The lone honoree not returning to reigning AAC Coach of the Year Molly Alvey's lineup is Second Team All-Conference Ciara Hill, who was a senior last year.
// SOMETHING NEW - PART I
During the 2017 season, the Bearcats will play their home matches at St. Ursula Academy's Gymnasium and Convocation Center, which is located just two miles from campus, while an $87 million renovation of Fifth Third Arena continues to progress. The Bearcats will play nine home matches this year with the first coming September 29 with Tulsa coming to town.
// SOMETHING NEW - PART II
Not only will the Bearcats play in a new venue, they also will play a new conference foe as the Shockers of Wichita State have joined the league this year. The teams met last year in a match at WSU with the Bearcats scoring a 3-1 victory. The match marked the first time the two programs had played one another and are now scheduled to meet twice this season (once in Wichita and once in Cincinnati). Similar to the Bearcats (11), the Shockers have made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2016 event, and have been selected to win the AAC this year, just three points ahead of UC in the preseason poll (see next note).
// PRESEASON HONORS
Heading into the season, the Bearcats are once again viewed as one of the teams to beat in the American Athletic Conference as the league coaches picked UC to finish second in a very close race with AAC debutante Wichita State. The Shockers received 116 points and seven first-place votes while the Bearcats tallied 113 points and the remaining five first-place votes. Individually, Thompson was a unanimous selection as the AAC Preseason Player of the year and joined both Tingelhoff and Nolan as preseason all-conference honorees with Tingelhoff earning a spot on the list as well.
// SUMMER TOURS
During the summer, three with ties to the program were traveling overseas for competitions as members of the US Collegiate National Team program. Jordan Thompson, who was invited to the Team USA Tryouts, was selected to her second US CNT, this time joining a squad that would tour Thailand (May 9-30). Her selection came one year after she competed for the CNT in China with associate head coach Phillip White serving as an assistant coach. Two UC coaches also were in action this summer as head coach Molly Alvey was tabbed to lead the CNT-Europe squad while assistant coach Kevin Carroll served as an assistant with the team. The US squad made stops in Italy, Slovenia and Croatia before participating in the Global Challenge in Croatia (July 10-14).
// STRONG ACADEMICS
Following the 2016 season, several academic awards were bestowed upon the Bearcats, both as a team and individually. As a team, UC was one of 149 women's Division I programs to carry a 3.30 GPA or higher and was named an AVCA Team Academic Award recipient. Individually, 12 Bearcats were honored with AAC All-Academic honors, including Lise Alaiwan, Dasha Cabarkapa, Lindsey Dinkelacker, Ciara Hill, Erica Kostelac, Carly Nolan, Elly Ogle, Parker Shepherd, Jordan Thompson, Jade Tingelhoff, Abby Williams and Sabrina Wolf. To earn the honor, each individual maintained better than a 3.00 GPA throughout the academic year.
// SENIOR YEAR
Two players are entering their final collegiate seasons with the program. Those two seniors include Maya Muldrow (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) and Parker Shepherd (McKinney, Texas/McKinney Boyd).
// HELLO! MY NAME IS...
Seven new faces have joined the program this year, including four freshmen, one junior transfer and two new members of the coaching staff. On the court, the rookie class includes Emily Azzara (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy), Maya Eller (Concord Township, Ohio/Lake Catholic), Megan Kissel (Mason, Ohio/CHCA) and Chrysanthi Stamatiou (Thessaloniki, Greece/Hellenic College) and will join Jasmine Jones (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point), a junior that transferred in from UNC Greensboro. New the staff for 2017 is assistant coach Kevin Carroll and volunteer coach Jake Neiheisel.
LOOKING BACK AT 2016
// THOMPSON EARNS ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Following a stellar sophomore campaign, Jordan Thompson earned a pair of honors from the AVCA, including all-region before being tabbed a 2016 All-American. Thompson is just the eighth Cincinnati player to earn All-America accolades and only the third Bearcat to garner the national award as a sophomore. She was the first unanimous Player of the Year in American Athletic Conference history and was a unanimous pick to the all-conference first team for the second consecutive season. The right side hitter recorded her 1,000th career kill on Nov. 25, breaking a school and league record as the quickest player to 1,000 kills and the only person to reach the milestone as a sophomore. She ended the season ranked sixth in the NCAA with 4.92 kills per set, sixth with 5.50 points per set, eighth with 580 total kills and ninth with 648.5 total points.
// BEARCATS GRAB AAC HONORS
The American Athletic Conference handed out several honors to the Bearcats in 2016, including three major awards, including Jordan Thompson being named (unanimously) the 2016 AAC Player of the Year; Jade Tingelhoff earning 2016 AAC Setter of the Year honors; and head coach Molly Alvey being named the 2016 AAC Coach of the Year. Thompson and Tingelhoff were named AAC All-Conference First Team with Carly Nolan also earning the same honor. Ciara Hill was selected to the AAC All-Conference Second Team as well.
// NCAA RETURN
The Bearcats earned an at-large berth into the 2016 NCAA Tournament, making their first appearance since the 2011 campaign. UC was placed in the Gainesville, Fla., region and squared off with Florida State in the first round, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Seminoles. The selection to the tournament, UC's first as an at-large participant since 2010, marked the 10th time in program history the Bearcats have been part of the national event.
// THOMPSON OVER 1,000 KILLS
On Nov. 25, 2016, Jordan Thompson became the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills when she did so in the third set of a 3-1 victory over Memphis. She broke a program and American Athletic Conference record as the quickest player to 1,000 career kills and the only player to ever reach the milestone as a sophomore.
// BLOCK PARTY
Cincinnati recorded 18.0 blocks in a 3-1 win over Middle Tennessee State on Aug. 27 at the DISH Tennessee Classic. The total was the most for any UC team since November 16, 2007, when it tallied 18.5 blocks in a 3-1 loss to Notre Dame. Alison Kimmel earned a career-high nine blocks while Maya Muldrow tied a career best with eight. Elly Ogle (six), Ciara Hill (six), Jordan Thompson (four) and Carly Nolan (three) also got in on the blocking action.
// UP NEXT
The third of four weekend tournaments on the road to open the year await the Bearcats next week as they will travel to Normal, Ill., to compete in the Redbird Classic hosted by Illinois State. UC will open the event with a 5 p.m. contest against Seton Hall on Friday before playing both Dayton (11 a.m.) and host ISU (8 p.m.) Saturday.
The University of Cincinnati volleyball team returns to the court this weekend for a trio of matches across town at the Xavier Tournament hosted by rival Xavier inside the Cintas Center Friday and Saturday. The Bearcats open the weekend by facing the crosstown Musketeers in a 7 p.m. match Friday night before facing both Texas State (10 a.m.) and Western Michigan (4 p.m.) Saturday to close out the event.
// COME SEE US
The first five weeks of the season will see the Bearcats hit the road for their first 14 matches of the season. This week, however, will be the closest to home the team will play until their home opener September 29 against Tulsa at St. Ursula Academy. While the Bearcats are away from home this week, they will be just down the street as all three matches will be played at Xavier, just over four miles away from the UC campus.
// FOLLOW US
For up to the minute updates, follow UC Volleyball (@GoBearcatsVB) and Coach Alvey (@CoachAlveyUC) on Twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Facebook (GoBearcatsVB) and Instagram (GoBearcatsVB).
// GOING LIVE
Live stats will be available for all three matches this weekend through GoXavier.com. Also, Friday's match with the Musketeers will be streamed live online through Xavier's web site.
// #HOUSTONSTRONG
Hurricane Harvey has caused widespread flooding throughout the Houston area. The University of Cincinnati Department of Athletics stands with our longtime partners at the University of Houston and the City of Houston during these tough times. Those wishing to help with relief efforts in and around the Houston area are encouraged to donate through the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Cincinnati-based Matthew 25: Ministries. Please visit any of those organization's web sites to see how you can assist.
// WEEKEND RECAP
• Cincinnati played in the Bluegrass Battle in Lexington, Ky., last week, going 0-3 in the tournament
• The Bearcats lost, 3-0, to #24 Utah before falling to Arkansas State, 3-1, to close out the first day
• UC fell to #14 Kentucky, 3-0, in the Saturday finale
• Carly Nolan was named the all-tournament team following the event
• Nolan recorded a double-double against the host Wildcats, recording 11 kills and 10 digs
• In the opener with the Utes, Jade Tingelhoff posted a double-double as she handed out 22 assists to go along with the 10 digs she recorded
• Elly Ogle had a strong match against Arkansas State as she recorded her first career double-double with 12 kills and 18 digs in the match with the Red Wolves
• Nolan led the Bearcats with 40 kills total for the weekend (4.00/set) while Ogle and Tingelhoff led with 26 digs and Tingelhoff posted 89 assists
• Jasmine Jones recorded a team-high 11 kills in her debut weekend with the Bearcats
// MORE ON OGLE'S DOUBLE
Not only did Ogle record the first double-double of her career with 12 kills and 18 digs against Arkansas State, she did so with big jumps in production over her previous career bests. Heading into the match, Ogle had posted three kills in a match three times and recorded nine digs once before tripling and doubling her career bests, respectively.
// HAPPY TO HELP
With her 28th and final assist in the match at #14 Kentucky, Tingelhoff recorded the 2,250th assist of her career. She is currently ranked fourth on the program's all-time rally scoring era assists ladder and ninth all-time.
// KNOW THE FOE: XAVIER
The Musketeers enter Friday's match with a 3-1 record. Xavier opened the year a 3-0 showing at the Hampton Inn Invitational in Bowling Green, Ohio, with wins overs Duquesne (3-0), Illinois-Chicago (3-1) and the host Falcons (3-0). Tuesday night, XU dropped a 3-1 decision to visiting Miami (Ohio) in its home opener. Christy Pfeffenberger's team is led by Kristen Massa, who holds a 4.50 kills/set ratio while Mackenzi Humm is handing out 7.50 assists/set.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. MUSKETEERS
Cincinnati and Xavier have met 33 times previously with the Bearcats holding a 22-11-0 record in the series. The Bearcats won the last meeting, 3-1, at home in 2015 to snap a three-match slide to their crosstown rivals in a series that dates back to 1975. The last time the two teams met at Xavier came in 2014 with the host Musketeers taking a 3-0 win.
// IN THE REGION
When looking at the series records for the regional teams (Xavier, Northern Kentucky, Miami, Dayton and Wright State), the Bearcats hold an overall record of 94-63-1 all-time. When looking at each series, UC has recorded 22 wins against three different teams: Xavier (22-11-0), Miami (22-14-0) and Dayton (22-21-0) with 21 wins against Wright State (21-11-0). A win over XU Friday would be the most wins over any of the teams in the region.
// KNOW THE FOE: TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats enter the weekend with a 1-1 record after defeating Sam Houston State (3-0) and falling the VCU (0-3) at the Texas A&M Invitational last week. Texas State's third match - against host TAMU - was cancelled as Hurricane Harvey approached Texas. The Bobcats are led by Karen Chisum, who is in her 38th year at the helm of the program. Megan Porter currently leads the TSU attack with a 4.00 kills/set average while Brooke Johnson has recorded 5.33 assists/set. Defensively, Mattie Adams has recorded 2.80 digs/set while Halee Brewer is averaging 0.83 blocks/set.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. BOBCATS
Saturday's match will be the first in the series between UC and Texas State. It also will mark the second week in a row that UC has faced a team from the Sun Belt Conference for the first time after opening the series with Arkansas State in Lexington, Ky., Friday night.
// KNOW THE FOE: WESTERN MICHIGAN
The Broncos opened their season at the DISH Tennessee Classic and posted a 1-2 overall record. Western Michigan fell to host Tennessee (3-1) and finished with a 3-2 set back to Wofford with a 3-1 victory over George Washington sandwiched between. Colleen Munson is in her 12th year at WMU and recently won her 300th match with the Broncos. WMU is led by Sydney LeMay, who holds averages of 3.12 kills/set and 0.94 blocks/set.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. BRONCOS
Saturday's match will be the ninth in the series between UC and WMU and the first since the 2009 season. Overall, the Broncos hold a 7-1-0 advantage and won the last meeting, 3-1, at WMU.
// DEBUTS
Five different players made their debuts for the Bearcats Friday, including three true freshman, one redshirt freshman and one junior transfer. The rookies that saw action in the first two matches of the season included Emily Azzara, Maya Eller and Chrysanthi Stamatiou. They joined Erica Kostelac (redshirt) and Jasmine Jones, a transfer from UNC Greensboro.
// NOLAN ON THE ATTACK
Through the first weekend of play, Carly Nolan finds herself ranked in several statistical categories both in the conference and nationally. On a conference level, she is tied for second with 4.00 kills/set and ranks fifth in points with a 4.20/set average. Nationally, her 12.20 attacks/set ranks 29th (leads the American) while her kills per set total ranks her 76th in the NCAA.
// MORE CONFERENCE RANKS
• Jade Tingelhoff ranks fifth in the league with 8.90 assists/set
• Maya Eller ranks tied for eighth with 0.40 service aces/set
• Jasmine Jones ranks eighth with 1.10 blocks/set
// SMILE FOR THE CAMERA
Speaking of the conference, the American Athletic Conference recently announced the fall broadcast schedule for the American Digital Network with Bearcats volleyball set to be aired live October 26 when UC travels to Dallas to face SMU.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// LOTS RETURNING
Following a 17-3 campaign and runner-up finish in the American Athletic Conference last year, several members of the program were honored by the league with nearly all those honorees returning in 2017. Returning this year are Jordan Thompson, the AAC Player of the Year, Jade Tingelhoff, the AAC Setter of the Year, and Carly Nolan, who, along with Thompson and Tingelhoff, was named First Team All-Conference. The lone honoree not returning to reigning AAC Coach of the Year Molly Alvey's lineup is Second Team All-Conference Ciara Hill, who was a senior last year.
// SOMETHING NEW - PART I
During the 2017 season, the Bearcats will play their home matches at St. Ursula Academy's Gymnasium and Convocation Center, which is located just two miles from campus, while an $87 million renovation of Fifth Third Arena continues to progress. The Bearcats will play nine home matches this year with the first coming September 29 with Tulsa coming to town.
// SOMETHING NEW - PART II
Not only will the Bearcats play in a new venue, they also will play a new conference foe as the Shockers of Wichita State have joined the league this year. The teams met last year in a match at WSU with the Bearcats scoring a 3-1 victory. The match marked the first time the two programs had played one another and are now scheduled to meet twice this season (once in Wichita and once in Cincinnati). Similar to the Bearcats (11), the Shockers have made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2016 event, and have been selected to win the AAC this year, just three points ahead of UC in the preseason poll (see next note).
// PRESEASON HONORS
Heading into the season, the Bearcats are once again viewed as one of the teams to beat in the American Athletic Conference as the league coaches picked UC to finish second in a very close race with AAC debutante Wichita State. The Shockers received 116 points and seven first-place votes while the Bearcats tallied 113 points and the remaining five first-place votes. Individually, Thompson was a unanimous selection as the AAC Preseason Player of the year and joined both Tingelhoff and Nolan as preseason all-conference honorees with Tingelhoff earning a spot on the list as well.
// SUMMER TOURS
During the summer, three with ties to the program were traveling overseas for competitions as members of the US Collegiate National Team program. Jordan Thompson, who was invited to the Team USA Tryouts, was selected to her second US CNT, this time joining a squad that would tour Thailand (May 9-30). Her selection came one year after she competed for the CNT in China with associate head coach Phillip White serving as an assistant coach. Two UC coaches also were in action this summer as head coach Molly Alvey was tabbed to lead the CNT-Europe squad while assistant coach Kevin Carroll served as an assistant with the team. The US squad made stops in Italy, Slovenia and Croatia before participating in the Global Challenge in Croatia (July 10-14).
// STRONG ACADEMICS
Following the 2016 season, several academic awards were bestowed upon the Bearcats, both as a team and individually. As a team, UC was one of 149 women's Division I programs to carry a 3.30 GPA or higher and was named an AVCA Team Academic Award recipient. Individually, 12 Bearcats were honored with AAC All-Academic honors, including Lise Alaiwan, Dasha Cabarkapa, Lindsey Dinkelacker, Ciara Hill, Erica Kostelac, Carly Nolan, Elly Ogle, Parker Shepherd, Jordan Thompson, Jade Tingelhoff, Abby Williams and Sabrina Wolf. To earn the honor, each individual maintained better than a 3.00 GPA throughout the academic year.
// SENIOR YEAR
Two players are entering their final collegiate seasons with the program. Those two seniors include Maya Muldrow (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) and Parker Shepherd (McKinney, Texas/McKinney Boyd).
// HELLO! MY NAME IS...
Seven new faces have joined the program this year, including four freshmen, one junior transfer and two new members of the coaching staff. On the court, the rookie class includes Emily Azzara (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy), Maya Eller (Concord Township, Ohio/Lake Catholic), Megan Kissel (Mason, Ohio/CHCA) and Chrysanthi Stamatiou (Thessaloniki, Greece/Hellenic College) and will join Jasmine Jones (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point), a junior that transferred in from UNC Greensboro. New the staff for 2017 is assistant coach Kevin Carroll and volunteer coach Jake Neiheisel.
LOOKING BACK AT 2016
// THOMPSON EARNS ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Following a stellar sophomore campaign, Jordan Thompson earned a pair of honors from the AVCA, including all-region before being tabbed a 2016 All-American. Thompson is just the eighth Cincinnati player to earn All-America accolades and only the third Bearcat to garner the national award as a sophomore. She was the first unanimous Player of the Year in American Athletic Conference history and was a unanimous pick to the all-conference first team for the second consecutive season. The right side hitter recorded her 1,000th career kill on Nov. 25, breaking a school and league record as the quickest player to 1,000 kills and the only person to reach the milestone as a sophomore. She ended the season ranked sixth in the NCAA with 4.92 kills per set, sixth with 5.50 points per set, eighth with 580 total kills and ninth with 648.5 total points.
// BEARCATS GRAB AAC HONORS
The American Athletic Conference handed out several honors to the Bearcats in 2016, including three major awards, including Jordan Thompson being named (unanimously) the 2016 AAC Player of the Year; Jade Tingelhoff earning 2016 AAC Setter of the Year honors; and head coach Molly Alvey being named the 2016 AAC Coach of the Year. Thompson and Tingelhoff were named AAC All-Conference First Team with Carly Nolan also earning the same honor. Ciara Hill was selected to the AAC All-Conference Second Team as well.
// NCAA RETURN
The Bearcats earned an at-large berth into the 2016 NCAA Tournament, making their first appearance since the 2011 campaign. UC was placed in the Gainesville, Fla., region and squared off with Florida State in the first round, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Seminoles. The selection to the tournament, UC's first as an at-large participant since 2010, marked the 10th time in program history the Bearcats have been part of the national event.
// THOMPSON OVER 1,000 KILLS
On Nov. 25, 2016, Jordan Thompson became the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills when she did so in the third set of a 3-1 victory over Memphis. She broke a program and American Athletic Conference record as the quickest player to 1,000 career kills and the only player to ever reach the milestone as a sophomore.
// BLOCK PARTY
Cincinnati recorded 18.0 blocks in a 3-1 win over Middle Tennessee State on Aug. 27 at the DISH Tennessee Classic. The total was the most for any UC team since November 16, 2007, when it tallied 18.5 blocks in a 3-1 loss to Notre Dame. Alison Kimmel earned a career-high nine blocks while Maya Muldrow tied a career best with eight. Elly Ogle (six), Ciara Hill (six), Jordan Thompson (four) and Carly Nolan (three) also got in on the blocking action.
// UP NEXT
The third of four weekend tournaments on the road to open the year await the Bearcats next week as they will travel to Normal, Ill., to compete in the Redbird Classic hosted by Illinois State. UC will open the event with a 5 p.m. contest against Seton Hall on Friday before playing both Dayton (11 a.m.) and host ISU (8 p.m.) Saturday.