TicketsFORT COLLINS, Colo. – University of Cincinnati volleyball dug in and never stopped working in a big victory over No. 25 Colorado State to start the weekend Saturday afternoon.
The Bearcats won two close sets 25-23 and 26-23 before dropping a long third set 29-27. The fourth and final set was all UC, as the match ended with a 25-15 set victory. It was the first win against a ranked opponent since UC bested No. 16 Kentucky at home on September 7, 2010. It was the first true road win versus a ranked opponent since 2002 when UC beat Colorado State when they were also ranked No. 25 in the country.
// NOTES
• The Bearcats move to 3-1 on the season while Colorado State drops to 2-2
• Jordan Thompson set a new American Athletic Conference record with 31 kills in the four-set match
• The career-high for the redshirt-junior marks the first time a Bearcats player earned thirty or more kills since Jordanne Scott had thirty against Connecticut in a five-set match back in November of 2012
• Thompson accomplished the feat while hitting an impressive .364 percent on 66 attempts
• She finished with a double-double as she also added in 14 digs, three blocks and a service ace
• Senior Jasmine Jones also had a career-night. Jones had a career-best nine total blocks and tied a career-high with two solo blocks
• Jade Tingelhoff led the offense with 53 assists and two aces
• Abby Williams finished with a team-high 15 digs
• Erica Kostelac was second on the team with nine kills and three blocks
• Carly Nolan posted seven kills, nine digs and two blocks
• Dasha Cabarkapa compiled seven kills and two blocks
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENTS
"Clearly it was a very fun match as far as playing a great team, playing in front of a great crowd. The arena is amazing for a volleyball setting. I think for us to be able to compete in a high-level, competitive arena is a really fantastic experience. I go back to what I talked a lot about last week in our interviews and with the team: I think this shows that we got so much better in that first weekend. Preseason is about that; it's about figuring out what your team is capable of doing, getting them better in each opportunity that you step on to the court. I think that the improvements that we made last weekend translated on to the court today. In return, we have to step right back around and play again this afternoon, so I think that's one of the hardest things to do as an athlete. You're on a high, then you have downtime for a couple of hours, and you have to come back out to another great team. So, we'll just get focused right now and spend all of our time preparing ourselves and what we need to do against TCU."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-23
Thompson started the day with a kill. The teams traded a few service errors back and forth until the Rams were able to pull ahead by a few points. But, another kill by Thompson and a CSU mistake tied the set at seven. Shortly after, a successful Thompson attack and a Rams' error gave the Bearcats a 10-9 advantage. The UC lead grew to four, 15-11, after an ace from Thompson. A Nolan kill followed by an ace by Williams kept the lead intact. CSU worked back to tie the set at 19, but Thompson remained a tough opponent, slamming home a kill and following with a block with Jones. An error by the Rams would hand the final point of the set to the Bearcats.
Set 2: UC, 26-24
CSU got out to a 5-1 lead to start the second set. After an early timeout, Jones earned her first kill of the day. Tingelhoff followed with an ace while another Jones kill made it a 3-0 run for the Bearcats. The Rams continued to lead until a great kill by Nolan tied the set at nine all. Thompson and Nolan collected two more kills to make it a 17-16 set. With CSU up one, some great defense gave UC momentum. A long volley ended when Chrysanthi Stamatiou came up with a beautiful dig and Thompson was set up for a deadly kill. Jones had a kill of her own on the next play to make it a 22-21 Bearcats lead. The set went down to the wire once again. Both teams served up errors before Nolan took a set from Tingelhoff and drilled it home for the set victory.
Set 3: CSU, 29-27
Maria Mallon gave UC an early lead with an ace to lead 2-1. Kills by Kostelac and Nolan plus a CSU error allowed the UC advantage to grow to 6-3. Back-to-back Kostleac kills kept the lead at three at the 8-5 mark. A Rams block and a few kills allowed them to go on a four point run, leading 13-9. The Bearcats started getting in a groove later on thanks to some great defense by Jones. She stuffed the Rams on back-to-back solo blocks before Kostelac had two straight kills to tie the set at 17. The whole arena was an edge for the end of the set, as neither team could finish off the other. CSU was finally able to pull away after a kill and a UC attack error.
Set 4: UC, 25-15
The teams traded points back and forth to start the fourth set with neither able to get out ahead. A block from Nolan and Cabarkapa put the Bearcats in front 8-7 and a Thompson kill made that lead two. From the 10-8 point on, UC did not look back. Consecutive CSU errors and a block from Jones and Kostelac put the Bearcats up 18-10. Ahead 22-15, UC would score the final three points of the match, connecting on kills by Thompson and Cabarkapa and closing it out with a Stamatiou ace.
// NEXT MATCH.
UC plays its second match of the day at 7 p.m. EST against TCU. The Bearcats finish the weekend facing Florida State on Sunday at noon EST.
// 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).
The Bearcats won two close sets 25-23 and 26-23 before dropping a long third set 29-27. The fourth and final set was all UC, as the match ended with a 25-15 set victory. It was the first win against a ranked opponent since UC bested No. 16 Kentucky at home on September 7, 2010. It was the first true road win versus a ranked opponent since 2002 when UC beat Colorado State when they were also ranked No. 25 in the country.
// NOTES
• The Bearcats move to 3-1 on the season while Colorado State drops to 2-2
• Jordan Thompson set a new American Athletic Conference record with 31 kills in the four-set match
• The career-high for the redshirt-junior marks the first time a Bearcats player earned thirty or more kills since Jordanne Scott had thirty against Connecticut in a five-set match back in November of 2012
• Thompson accomplished the feat while hitting an impressive .364 percent on 66 attempts
• She finished with a double-double as she also added in 14 digs, three blocks and a service ace
• Senior Jasmine Jones also had a career-night. Jones had a career-best nine total blocks and tied a career-high with two solo blocks
• Jade Tingelhoff led the offense with 53 assists and two aces
• Abby Williams finished with a team-high 15 digs
• Erica Kostelac was second on the team with nine kills and three blocks
• Carly Nolan posted seven kills, nine digs and two blocks
• Dasha Cabarkapa compiled seven kills and two blocks
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENTS
"Clearly it was a very fun match as far as playing a great team, playing in front of a great crowd. The arena is amazing for a volleyball setting. I think for us to be able to compete in a high-level, competitive arena is a really fantastic experience. I go back to what I talked a lot about last week in our interviews and with the team: I think this shows that we got so much better in that first weekend. Preseason is about that; it's about figuring out what your team is capable of doing, getting them better in each opportunity that you step on to the court. I think that the improvements that we made last weekend translated on to the court today. In return, we have to step right back around and play again this afternoon, so I think that's one of the hardest things to do as an athlete. You're on a high, then you have downtime for a couple of hours, and you have to come back out to another great team. So, we'll just get focused right now and spend all of our time preparing ourselves and what we need to do against TCU."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-23
Thompson started the day with a kill. The teams traded a few service errors back and forth until the Rams were able to pull ahead by a few points. But, another kill by Thompson and a CSU mistake tied the set at seven. Shortly after, a successful Thompson attack and a Rams' error gave the Bearcats a 10-9 advantage. The UC lead grew to four, 15-11, after an ace from Thompson. A Nolan kill followed by an ace by Williams kept the lead intact. CSU worked back to tie the set at 19, but Thompson remained a tough opponent, slamming home a kill and following with a block with Jones. An error by the Rams would hand the final point of the set to the Bearcats.
Set 2: UC, 26-24
CSU got out to a 5-1 lead to start the second set. After an early timeout, Jones earned her first kill of the day. Tingelhoff followed with an ace while another Jones kill made it a 3-0 run for the Bearcats. The Rams continued to lead until a great kill by Nolan tied the set at nine all. Thompson and Nolan collected two more kills to make it a 17-16 set. With CSU up one, some great defense gave UC momentum. A long volley ended when Chrysanthi Stamatiou came up with a beautiful dig and Thompson was set up for a deadly kill. Jones had a kill of her own on the next play to make it a 22-21 Bearcats lead. The set went down to the wire once again. Both teams served up errors before Nolan took a set from Tingelhoff and drilled it home for the set victory.
Set 3: CSU, 29-27
Maria Mallon gave UC an early lead with an ace to lead 2-1. Kills by Kostelac and Nolan plus a CSU error allowed the UC advantage to grow to 6-3. Back-to-back Kostleac kills kept the lead at three at the 8-5 mark. A Rams block and a few kills allowed them to go on a four point run, leading 13-9. The Bearcats started getting in a groove later on thanks to some great defense by Jones. She stuffed the Rams on back-to-back solo blocks before Kostelac had two straight kills to tie the set at 17. The whole arena was an edge for the end of the set, as neither team could finish off the other. CSU was finally able to pull away after a kill and a UC attack error.
Set 4: UC, 25-15
The teams traded points back and forth to start the fourth set with neither able to get out ahead. A block from Nolan and Cabarkapa put the Bearcats in front 8-7 and a Thompson kill made that lead two. From the 10-8 point on, UC did not look back. Consecutive CSU errors and a block from Jones and Kostelac put the Bearcats up 18-10. Ahead 22-15, UC would score the final three points of the match, connecting on kills by Thompson and Cabarkapa and closing it out with a Stamatiou ace.
// NEXT MATCH.
UC plays its second match of the day at 7 p.m. EST against TCU. The Bearcats finish the weekend facing Florida State on Sunday at noon EST.
// 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).