TicketsCINCINNATI – The Unversity of Cincinnati volleyball team was clicking on both offense and defense Friday night to post a big 3-0 sweep of SMU in the first home American Athletic Conference match of the season.
The Bearcats held the Mustangs to just 34 total kills in the match while collecting 54 of their own and hitting .396 as a team.
// NOTES
• UC remains one of two unbeaten teams in conference as the team improves to 11-4 on the season and 2-0 in the American
• SMU dips to 5-8 overall and 2-1 in conference
• Jordan Thompson led with 22 kills in the match while hitting .415. She also had eight digs and three blocks
• Jade Tingelhoff returned to action and had a team-high 22 assists. Armania Heckenmueller finished with twenty
• Tingelhoff also had nine digs while Heckenmueller had 11 for a double-double
• Maria Mallon and Erica Kostelac each had 14 kills while posting impressive hitting percentages of .722 and .419, respectively
• Abby Williams led the team on the defensive end with twelve digs
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENT
"It was a great match tonight. It's always great when you can go into conference play and win in three and be able to get out early and get off your feet. It was an excellent effort. Again, I think our comment theme – and you hear me talk about it – is the effort that we get from every single person on the bench. It is a full team effort this year. I am just really proud, really proud of our players. The good people that they are, the good teammates that they are, it translates to success on the court."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-18
A SMU kill started the match before Thompson answered to begin a 5-0 run for UC as the Bearcats took the early lead and did not look back for the rest of the opening set. Kostelac had a kill to put UC up 7-3 and Carly Nolan added one in to make it a 12-7 set and force SMU to call a timeout. The closest the Mustangs could get to the set lead was three, 17-14, but Mallon followed with back-to-back kills to bump the Bearcats' lead back to five. Two late kills by Kostelac and Thompson gave UC set point before Kostelac came up with a huge solo stuff to end the set.
Set 2: UC, 25-18
Once again the Mustangs took the first point of the set and they were able to keep it closer, but the Bearcats proved to be too much at the end. SMU got ahead with four-straight points to hold a 8-5 advantage. UC answered with a Kostealc kill, Thompson kill and Mallon kill. The set became tied up at 11 and again at 13 when SMU evened the score with kills. Locked at 14-14, Kostelac gave the Bearcats the lead on a kill and later Nolan and Mallon added in kills to allow UC to start to pull away. SMU called a timeout once the score was at 20-17 but Thompson and Hannah Bolinger teamed up for back-to-back blocks out of the break to keep the home-court momentum going. Mallon finished off the set with a kill to make it a 2-0 match lead.
Set 3: UC, 25-20
SMU proved to be even tougher in the third, but UC prevailed once again. The Bearcats opened with kills from Kostelac and Thompson. However, the Mustangs quickly tied it. The set would go back-and-forth for the majority of the way. Two straight kills from Thompson put the set at 9-9 and 10-9. Heckenmueller followed by serving up an ace. Despite the slim lead, SMU got back in front before Kostelac tie the set at 15 with a kill. Thompson tied it once against with another kill, which started a run for the Bearcats. Nolan served an ace, Thompson added another kill and Mallon threw down another kill to make it a 19-16 set. Eying match point with a 24-20 lead, Thompson ended the match with an ace, allowing the Bearcats to celebrate the match sweep.
// NEXT MATCH.
The Bearcats host Houston on Sunday, September 30 at 1 p.m at St. Ursula Academy. Admission is free.
// 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 held the Mustangs to just 34 total kills in the match while collecting 54 of their own and hitting .396 as a team.
// NOTES
• UC remains one of two unbeaten teams in conference as the team improves to 11-4 on the season and 2-0 in the American
• SMU dips to 5-8 overall and 2-1 in conference
• Jordan Thompson led with 22 kills in the match while hitting .415. She also had eight digs and three blocks
• Jade Tingelhoff returned to action and had a team-high 22 assists. Armania Heckenmueller finished with twenty
• Tingelhoff also had nine digs while Heckenmueller had 11 for a double-double
• Maria Mallon and Erica Kostelac each had 14 kills while posting impressive hitting percentages of .722 and .419, respectively
• Abby Williams led the team on the defensive end with twelve digs
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENT
"It was a great match tonight. It's always great when you can go into conference play and win in three and be able to get out early and get off your feet. It was an excellent effort. Again, I think our comment theme – and you hear me talk about it – is the effort that we get from every single person on the bench. It is a full team effort this year. I am just really proud, really proud of our players. The good people that they are, the good teammates that they are, it translates to success on the court."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-18
A SMU kill started the match before Thompson answered to begin a 5-0 run for UC as the Bearcats took the early lead and did not look back for the rest of the opening set. Kostelac had a kill to put UC up 7-3 and Carly Nolan added one in to make it a 12-7 set and force SMU to call a timeout. The closest the Mustangs could get to the set lead was three, 17-14, but Mallon followed with back-to-back kills to bump the Bearcats' lead back to five. Two late kills by Kostelac and Thompson gave UC set point before Kostelac came up with a huge solo stuff to end the set.
Set 2: UC, 25-18
Once again the Mustangs took the first point of the set and they were able to keep it closer, but the Bearcats proved to be too much at the end. SMU got ahead with four-straight points to hold a 8-5 advantage. UC answered with a Kostealc kill, Thompson kill and Mallon kill. The set became tied up at 11 and again at 13 when SMU evened the score with kills. Locked at 14-14, Kostelac gave the Bearcats the lead on a kill and later Nolan and Mallon added in kills to allow UC to start to pull away. SMU called a timeout once the score was at 20-17 but Thompson and Hannah Bolinger teamed up for back-to-back blocks out of the break to keep the home-court momentum going. Mallon finished off the set with a kill to make it a 2-0 match lead.
Set 3: UC, 25-20
SMU proved to be even tougher in the third, but UC prevailed once again. The Bearcats opened with kills from Kostelac and Thompson. However, the Mustangs quickly tied it. The set would go back-and-forth for the majority of the way. Two straight kills from Thompson put the set at 9-9 and 10-9. Heckenmueller followed by serving up an ace. Despite the slim lead, SMU got back in front before Kostelac tie the set at 15 with a kill. Thompson tied it once against with another kill, which started a run for the Bearcats. Nolan served an ace, Thompson added another kill and Mallon threw down another kill to make it a 19-16 set. Eying match point with a 24-20 lead, Thompson ended the match with an ace, allowing the Bearcats to celebrate the match sweep.
// NEXT MATCH.
The Bearcats host Houston on Sunday, September 30 at 1 p.m at St. Ursula Academy. Admission is free.
// 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).