Tickets// FIRST SERVE
UC volleyball will wrap up its non-conference portion of the 2017 schedule this weekend at the Michigan Classic in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Bearcats will start the tournament by facing NC State on Friday at noon. Later that night, they will take on Milwaukee in a 5 p.m. match. The event will conclude with UC playing No. 21 Michigan on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
// COME SEE US
After being on the road for the first five weeks and 14 matches of the season, the Bearcats will return home at the end of September. The 2017 home opener is set for Friday, September 29 at St. Ursula Academy. Tulsa will be in town for a 7 p.m. game. Cincinnati will remain home that Sunday, October 1 for a 1 p.m. match against SMU. After traveling for matches against UConn and Temple, the Bearcats will return to St. Ursula Academy on Friday, October for a 7 p.m. contest versus Houston and a 1 p.m. matchup with Tulane on Sunday, October 15.
// 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 MGoBlue.com. Video will not be available for any of the matches.
// WEEKEND RECAP
• Cincinnati played in the Redbird Classic, going 0-3 in the tournament
• The Bearcats took the opening set on Friday versus Seton Hall before falling 3-1
• A few career records were set in the match. Elly Ogle tied her best with six blocks, Erica Kostelac also tied her career block mark with four. Jasmine Jones joined the block party with a new career-best eight. Maya Eller reached a new career-high in assists with five in the match
• UC struggled in match two of the tournament, falling in three sets to Dayton on Saturday morning
• On Saturday night, four Bearcats posted double-doubles, but it was not enough in a five-set loss to host Illinois State
• After dropping the first two sets (25-14, 25-21), the Bearcats came back to take set three by a score of 26-24 and then set four, 25-22. The deciding set was won by Illinois State 16-14
• Carly Nolan, Jade Tingelhoff, Chrysanthi Stamatiou and Elly Ogle all posted double-doubles on the night
• Abby Williams finished with a season-high 23 digs while Maya Muldrow tied her career-high with eight blocks and Stamatiou posted a career-high 15 digs while tying her career-best in kills with 12
// YOUTH MOVEMENT
A trio of freshman have contributed a lot this season, currently sitting atop the leaderboard some of the team's statistical categories. Maya Eller currently leads the Bearcats with 101 digs and eight aces. She ranks second on the team in assists. Redshirt freshman Erica Kostelac is 3rd on the team in kills and Chrysanthi Stamatiou is 5th in kills.
// THREE-PEAT
Carly Nolan has excelled in all three tournaments to start the season, landing a spot on all three all-tournament teams (Bluegrass Battle, Xavier Tournament, Redbird Classic). The junior was also named to the American Athletic Conference weekly Honor Roll after posting three-straight double-doubles at the Xavier Tournament. She has five double-doubles in nine matches this season.
// HAPPY TO HELP
With her 28th and final assist in the match at #14 Kentucky, Tingelhoff recorded the 2,250th assist of her career. With a total of 2,484 entering the weekend, she is currently ranked fourth on the program's all-time rally scoring era assists ladder and ninth all-time.
// KNOW THE FOE: NC STATE
The Wolfpack enters Friday with a 3-5 record. They have won their last three matches after starting the season 0-5. NC State beat UNC-Wilmington 3-2 and High Point 3-0 at the High Point Tournament last Saturday. The team then defeated LIU Brooklyn at home on Sunday, September 10 by a score of 3-0. After the three victories, the Wolfpack found itself ranked 45th in the PrepVolleyball College Rankings. All five of NC State's losses have come against teams currently ranked in the poll.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. WOLFPACK
Cincinnati and NC State have met four times in history with each team taking two wins. The first matchup was during the 1984 season and the most recent was in 1993.
// KNOW THE FOE: MILWAUKEE
The Panthers are 7-4 so far in 2017. Last weekend at the DePaul Invitational, Milwaukee finished 2-1. The Panthers opened the tournament with a 0-3 loss against Northwestern and then won 3-0 against host DePaul and 3-1 against Army. Most recently, Milwaukee hosted Marquette on Tuesday night, dropping that match by a score of 0-3. Mykie Olsen had a strong defensive weekend for the Panthers, earning all-tournament recognition at the DePaul Invitational.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. PANTHERS
Cincinnati and Milwaukee have met seven times with the Bearcats going 5-2 all-time. The most recent meeting was in 2007 when Cincinnati fell 3-2 on the road. Prior to that, UC beat Milwaukee at home in 2005 by a score of 3-2. The two teams first sqared off in 1992.
// KNOW THE FOE: MICHIGAN
The Wolverines are 7-2 this season and currently ranked 21st in the AVCA national poll. Last weekend, they went 2-1 at the CSU Invitational. The event opened with a 3-0 victory against Idaho State. Michigan then fell in its next match 3-0 to No. 25 Colorado State. Both Adeja Lambert and Jenna Lerg were named to the all-tournament team. The team then rebounded with a 3-1 win against Ball State. Michigan began the season ranked 16th in the AVCA preseason poll and dropped six spots after suffering the loss to Colorado State. The Wolverines finished the 2016 season ranked 12th in the country.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. WOLVERINES
Cincinnati is 1-1 all-time against Michigan. The most recent meeting of the two teams was in 2002 while the first matchup was in 1976.
// DEBUTS
Five different players have made their debuts for the Bearcats this season, 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 three weekends of play, Carly Nolan finds herself ranked in several statistical categories both in the conference and nationally. On a conference level, she is second with 4.08 kills/set and ranks third in points with a 4.38/set average. Nationally, her 13.14 attacks/set ranks 8th (leads the American) while her kills per set total ranks her 47th in the NCAA.
// MORE CONFERENCE RANKS
• Jade Tingelhoff ranks fifth in the league with 8.97 assists/set
• Jasmine Jones is 6th in blocks/set wtih 1.11 while Maya Muldrow ranks 15th in the same category with 0.92 blocks/set
• Maya Eller is 13th in the conference in digs with 3.26/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 Bearcats will enter conference play next weekend, starting in Florida. Cincinnati will take on USF on Friday, September 22 at 7 p.m. before facing UCF on Sunday at 1 p.m.
UC volleyball will wrap up its non-conference portion of the 2017 schedule this weekend at the Michigan Classic in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Bearcats will start the tournament by facing NC State on Friday at noon. Later that night, they will take on Milwaukee in a 5 p.m. match. The event will conclude with UC playing No. 21 Michigan on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
// COME SEE US
After being on the road for the first five weeks and 14 matches of the season, the Bearcats will return home at the end of September. The 2017 home opener is set for Friday, September 29 at St. Ursula Academy. Tulsa will be in town for a 7 p.m. game. Cincinnati will remain home that Sunday, October 1 for a 1 p.m. match against SMU. After traveling for matches against UConn and Temple, the Bearcats will return to St. Ursula Academy on Friday, October for a 7 p.m. contest versus Houston and a 1 p.m. matchup with Tulane on Sunday, October 15.
// 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 MGoBlue.com. Video will not be available for any of the matches.
// WEEKEND RECAP
• Cincinnati played in the Redbird Classic, going 0-3 in the tournament
• The Bearcats took the opening set on Friday versus Seton Hall before falling 3-1
• A few career records were set in the match. Elly Ogle tied her best with six blocks, Erica Kostelac also tied her career block mark with four. Jasmine Jones joined the block party with a new career-best eight. Maya Eller reached a new career-high in assists with five in the match
• UC struggled in match two of the tournament, falling in three sets to Dayton on Saturday morning
• On Saturday night, four Bearcats posted double-doubles, but it was not enough in a five-set loss to host Illinois State
• After dropping the first two sets (25-14, 25-21), the Bearcats came back to take set three by a score of 26-24 and then set four, 25-22. The deciding set was won by Illinois State 16-14
• Carly Nolan, Jade Tingelhoff, Chrysanthi Stamatiou and Elly Ogle all posted double-doubles on the night
• Abby Williams finished with a season-high 23 digs while Maya Muldrow tied her career-high with eight blocks and Stamatiou posted a career-high 15 digs while tying her career-best in kills with 12
// YOUTH MOVEMENT
A trio of freshman have contributed a lot this season, currently sitting atop the leaderboard some of the team's statistical categories. Maya Eller currently leads the Bearcats with 101 digs and eight aces. She ranks second on the team in assists. Redshirt freshman Erica Kostelac is 3rd on the team in kills and Chrysanthi Stamatiou is 5th in kills.
// THREE-PEAT
Carly Nolan has excelled in all three tournaments to start the season, landing a spot on all three all-tournament teams (Bluegrass Battle, Xavier Tournament, Redbird Classic). The junior was also named to the American Athletic Conference weekly Honor Roll after posting three-straight double-doubles at the Xavier Tournament. She has five double-doubles in nine matches this season.
// HAPPY TO HELP
With her 28th and final assist in the match at #14 Kentucky, Tingelhoff recorded the 2,250th assist of her career. With a total of 2,484 entering the weekend, she is currently ranked fourth on the program's all-time rally scoring era assists ladder and ninth all-time.
// KNOW THE FOE: NC STATE
The Wolfpack enters Friday with a 3-5 record. They have won their last three matches after starting the season 0-5. NC State beat UNC-Wilmington 3-2 and High Point 3-0 at the High Point Tournament last Saturday. The team then defeated LIU Brooklyn at home on Sunday, September 10 by a score of 3-0. After the three victories, the Wolfpack found itself ranked 45th in the PrepVolleyball College Rankings. All five of NC State's losses have come against teams currently ranked in the poll.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. WOLFPACK
Cincinnati and NC State have met four times in history with each team taking two wins. The first matchup was during the 1984 season and the most recent was in 1993.
// KNOW THE FOE: MILWAUKEE
The Panthers are 7-4 so far in 2017. Last weekend at the DePaul Invitational, Milwaukee finished 2-1. The Panthers opened the tournament with a 0-3 loss against Northwestern and then won 3-0 against host DePaul and 3-1 against Army. Most recently, Milwaukee hosted Marquette on Tuesday night, dropping that match by a score of 0-3. Mykie Olsen had a strong defensive weekend for the Panthers, earning all-tournament recognition at the DePaul Invitational.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. PANTHERS
Cincinnati and Milwaukee have met seven times with the Bearcats going 5-2 all-time. The most recent meeting was in 2007 when Cincinnati fell 3-2 on the road. Prior to that, UC beat Milwaukee at home in 2005 by a score of 3-2. The two teams first sqared off in 1992.
// KNOW THE FOE: MICHIGAN
The Wolverines are 7-2 this season and currently ranked 21st in the AVCA national poll. Last weekend, they went 2-1 at the CSU Invitational. The event opened with a 3-0 victory against Idaho State. Michigan then fell in its next match 3-0 to No. 25 Colorado State. Both Adeja Lambert and Jenna Lerg were named to the all-tournament team. The team then rebounded with a 3-1 win against Ball State. Michigan began the season ranked 16th in the AVCA preseason poll and dropped six spots after suffering the loss to Colorado State. The Wolverines finished the 2016 season ranked 12th in the country.
// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. WOLVERINES
Cincinnati is 1-1 all-time against Michigan. The most recent meeting of the two teams was in 2002 while the first matchup was in 1976.
// DEBUTS
Five different players have made their debuts for the Bearcats this season, 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 three weekends of play, Carly Nolan finds herself ranked in several statistical categories both in the conference and nationally. On a conference level, she is second with 4.08 kills/set and ranks third in points with a 4.38/set average. Nationally, her 13.14 attacks/set ranks 8th (leads the American) while her kills per set total ranks her 47th in the NCAA.
// MORE CONFERENCE RANKS
• Jade Tingelhoff ranks fifth in the league with 8.97 assists/set
• Jasmine Jones is 6th in blocks/set wtih 1.11 while Maya Muldrow ranks 15th in the same category with 0.92 blocks/set
• Maya Eller is 13th in the conference in digs with 3.26/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 Bearcats will enter conference play next weekend, starting in Florida. Cincinnati will take on USF on Friday, September 22 at 7 p.m. before facing UCF on Sunday at 1 p.m.