TicketsCINCINNATI – University of Cincinnati volleyball bested its rival Xavier Saturday night 3-1 in front of a packed crowd in the final match of the Queen City Classic.
Jordan Thompson broke her own American Athletic Conference record with 32 kills in the four-set victory. She previously had 31 in a 3-1 win over No. 25 Colorado State this season. Both teams posted attack percentages better than .290, with UC hitting a season-high .324.
// NOTES
• UC improves to 9-3 on the season while Xavier drops to 2-9
• Thompson added in a team-high five blocks on the night
• Armania Heckenmueller led the team with 49 assists and added in nine digs
• Carly Nolan finished with 14 digs on the night
• Erica Kostelac reached double-digits in kills with 14
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENT
"What an amazing crowd tonight. What we always talk about as a team is that there are two things about volleyball: one, it's the ultimate team sport; and two, it's absolutely a game of errors. You know in a match you're going to make errors, that's what the whole game is about. But it comes down to who can make the least amount of errors in a match to come out on top. We had a little bit of ebb and flow this match that we did not have the last three weeks. We've been pretty steady. But I thought our response to that ebb and flow was fantastic. When it mattered there at the end of the fourth set we eliminated those errors and we stayed error-free in order to come out on top against a very strong Xavier team today."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-20
The Bearcats jumped out to a 3-1 lead, thanks in part to two Xavier attack errors and a kill by Kostelac. The Musketeers were able to come back and tie the set 6-6, but became plagued by some more errors while Maria Mallon served up an ace and Dasha Cabarkapa added a kill to put UC ahead 10-7. The Bearcats remained ahead despite a late run when the Musketeers came a point away from tying it. Up 16-15, two kills from Thompson, more XU errors and a kill by Kostelac made it a 20-18 set. Jasmine Jones and Thompson finished the set on kills from Heckenmueller.
Set 2: UC, 25-20
The second set went back-and-forth with neither team able to grab a definitive lead until midway through the set. Jones made it 10-10 with a kill before an Emily Azzara ace and Mallon kill put UC up by two. Back-to-back kills by Kostelac made it a 17-13 lead. Carbarkapa and Thompson teamed up for a block to send it to set point, and another block by the duo made it a 2-0 match in favor of the Bearcats.
Set 3: XU, 25-23
Five early kills, including two from Kostelac and two from Mallon, got UC out to a 5-1 lead. That lead grew to as much as six after a kill by Cabarkapa. Xavier was able to work its way back in to the set, though, putting together a pair of 3-0 runs to make it a close set. The Musketeers broke a 16-16 tie with two consecutive points. Thompson scored two in a row to put the Bearcats back in front by one, 21-20, but five of the next seven points came from the Musketeers as they were able to extend the match into the fourth set.
Set 4: UC, 25-22
For the first time, Xavier was able to pull out to a big lead to start a set. XU scored the first five points before a Thompson kill got UC on the board. The Bearcats put together their own run, scoring four straight to get within two. Thompson served up an ace to break an 8-8 tie. UC was able to keep an advantage until XU was able to answer back and tie the set once again at both 16 and 17. From there, the Bearcats did enough to not fall into a deficit the rest of the way. The final three UC points came via kills, one by Jones and the final two by Thompson.
// NEXT MATCH.
UC has a midweek match at Western Kentucky on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. AAC play begins next weekend with the Bearcats making the trip to ECU for a 7 p.m. Friday night match.
// 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).
Jordan Thompson broke her own American Athletic Conference record with 32 kills in the four-set victory. She previously had 31 in a 3-1 win over No. 25 Colorado State this season. Both teams posted attack percentages better than .290, with UC hitting a season-high .324.
// NOTES
• UC improves to 9-3 on the season while Xavier drops to 2-9
• Thompson added in a team-high five blocks on the night
• Armania Heckenmueller led the team with 49 assists and added in nine digs
• Carly Nolan finished with 14 digs on the night
• Erica Kostelac reached double-digits in kills with 14
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENT
"What an amazing crowd tonight. What we always talk about as a team is that there are two things about volleyball: one, it's the ultimate team sport; and two, it's absolutely a game of errors. You know in a match you're going to make errors, that's what the whole game is about. But it comes down to who can make the least amount of errors in a match to come out on top. We had a little bit of ebb and flow this match that we did not have the last three weeks. We've been pretty steady. But I thought our response to that ebb and flow was fantastic. When it mattered there at the end of the fourth set we eliminated those errors and we stayed error-free in order to come out on top against a very strong Xavier team today."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-20
The Bearcats jumped out to a 3-1 lead, thanks in part to two Xavier attack errors and a kill by Kostelac. The Musketeers were able to come back and tie the set 6-6, but became plagued by some more errors while Maria Mallon served up an ace and Dasha Cabarkapa added a kill to put UC ahead 10-7. The Bearcats remained ahead despite a late run when the Musketeers came a point away from tying it. Up 16-15, two kills from Thompson, more XU errors and a kill by Kostelac made it a 20-18 set. Jasmine Jones and Thompson finished the set on kills from Heckenmueller.
Set 2: UC, 25-20
The second set went back-and-forth with neither team able to grab a definitive lead until midway through the set. Jones made it 10-10 with a kill before an Emily Azzara ace and Mallon kill put UC up by two. Back-to-back kills by Kostelac made it a 17-13 lead. Carbarkapa and Thompson teamed up for a block to send it to set point, and another block by the duo made it a 2-0 match in favor of the Bearcats.
Set 3: XU, 25-23
Five early kills, including two from Kostelac and two from Mallon, got UC out to a 5-1 lead. That lead grew to as much as six after a kill by Cabarkapa. Xavier was able to work its way back in to the set, though, putting together a pair of 3-0 runs to make it a close set. The Musketeers broke a 16-16 tie with two consecutive points. Thompson scored two in a row to put the Bearcats back in front by one, 21-20, but five of the next seven points came from the Musketeers as they were able to extend the match into the fourth set.
Set 4: UC, 25-22
For the first time, Xavier was able to pull out to a big lead to start a set. XU scored the first five points before a Thompson kill got UC on the board. The Bearcats put together their own run, scoring four straight to get within two. Thompson served up an ace to break an 8-8 tie. UC was able to keep an advantage until XU was able to answer back and tie the set once again at both 16 and 17. From there, the Bearcats did enough to not fall into a deficit the rest of the way. The final three UC points came via kills, one by Jones and the final two by Thompson.
// NEXT MATCH.
UC has a midweek match at Western Kentucky on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. AAC play begins next weekend with the Bearcats making the trip to ECU for a 7 p.m. Friday night match.
// 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).