TicketsDURHAM, N.C. – The University of Cincinnati volleyball team worked back from being down 2-1 in the match to take the 3-2 victory over ETSU in the Duke Invitational Friday night.
The Bearcats opened with a 25-18 set victory before dropping the second 28-26 and the third 25-15. Set four was a huge momentum swing as UC worked back to win it 25-18 before battling it out in the fifth to win the match in a 16-14 final set.
// NOTES
• With the win, UC improves to 6-2 on the year while ETSU suffers its second loss and is now 7-2
• Jordan Thompson had another big night with 31 kills on a .300 attack percentage performance. She also had nine digs
• Armania Heckenmueller totaled 60 assists in the match and recorded a double-double with 11 digs
• Erica Kostelac had one of her best matches this year with 18 kills. She hit an impressive .485 while also adding in four blocks, including one solo
• Abby Williams led the team in both digs and aces, finishing with 16 and three, respectively. She also had six assists
• Carly Nolan almost recorded a double-double with 15 digs and nine kills
• Jasmine Jones had a team-high five blocks with one solo
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENT
"What a really exciting match against a super strong team. We knew last year when we were creating this schedule that we wanted to give us great competition and also to give us situation where we knew we could play some really strong RPI teams to keep helping us throughout the season. We knew coming in to this weekend that all three of these teams are going to win a lot. What a rebound from this morning to come back and play a loaded ETSU team. They have a lot of arms and some heavy arm swinging. Their ball control is fantastic. Their setter does a great job. I think we stayed the course, cleaned up our game a little bit and really pushed through a five-set match, which is tough. To be down 14-12 and come back and win 16-14 is just incredible mental strength. Emily Azzara had three serves at the end of the match, so to come in and score all those points for us and to make plays in transition with our blocking and attacking was really incredible. Overall as a team to hit .302 is pretty amazing. I'm really impressed with our swinging. Our serving stepped back up again tonight. It was another great team effort. Every time we say that and I talk about it, I don't mean for it to be a casual statement. I really believe that volleyball is the ultimate team sport and you have to have a complete team out there competing, and that's what we did tonight."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-18
The Bearcats came out firing, scoring the first six points and leading 7-2 early on. Multiple kills from Nolan and Thompson gave UC the early lead. Once up, the Bearcats never looked back. Thompson scored three consecutive points on kills off assists from Heckenmueller to make the lead 14-7. Later on, a kill from Kostelac made it set point. An ace by Emily Azzara ended the first set in the Bearcats' favor.
Set 2: ETSU, 28-26
UC took the first two point of the set with kills by Thompson. ETSU caught back up, though, and was able to tie the set at nine. Thompson added in two more kills before a kill from the Bucs tied the set back up at eleven. The set continued to go back-and-forth until three-straight points from ETSU put them up 16-14. Despite being down by three, 23-20, UC remained tough. Three consecutive points were scored by the Bearcats thanks to a service error and two more Thompson kills to knot the set at 23 all. Kostelac tied it later at 25 with a kill. Another kill by Kostelac tied it yet again at 26. However, the Bucs scored the final two points on an attack error and a block to win the second set and tie the match.
Set 3: ETSU, 25-15
The Buccaneers led 2-0 at the beginning until two kills by Thompson tied the set early on. However, an attack error allowed ETSU to pull ahead and they led the rest of the way. The Bearcats made a late run on a Thompson kill, attack error and an ace by Chrysanthi Stamatiou, but a UC error gave ETSU the last point they needed to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set 4: UC, 25-18
The Bearcats took the first two points on a kill from Jones and then a block by Jones and Maria Mallon. UC went on a big run with a kill by Dasha Cabarkapa, two from Kostelac and an ace by Williams. That string of points made it an 11-6 set. The Bearcats kept it going with three more points to make it an 8-0 run. Those three came via an attack error, block by Kostelac and anther ace by Williams. Kostelac came up with another kill to end the set and take the match to the fifth set.
Set 5: UC, 16-14
The fifth and final set was intense the whole way through. ETSU scored the first point before Thompson answered with two kills. Jones gave UC the lead later on a kill of her own to go up 4-3. The tide turned after that as the Bucs took a two-point lead, but Mallon came back and tied the set at six with a kill. ETSU led by three at the 10-7 mark. A 3-0 Bearcats' run with two kills by Kostelac and an ace from Williams brought the set to an even 10-10. The Buccaneers got the advantage again but the Bearcats kept it close by bringing the set to ties at 11 and 12. ETSU eyed match-point up 14-12 after an ace, causing UC to take a timeout and regroup. The break worked, because UC came out and scored the next two points to make it 14-14. A huge solo block by Cabarkapa made it match point for the Bearcats and a ETSU error solidified the victory.
// NEXT MATCH.
UC finishes its action in the Duke Invitational with a match against Coastal Carolina on Saturday at noon.
// 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 opened with a 25-18 set victory before dropping the second 28-26 and the third 25-15. Set four was a huge momentum swing as UC worked back to win it 25-18 before battling it out in the fifth to win the match in a 16-14 final set.
// NOTES
• With the win, UC improves to 6-2 on the year while ETSU suffers its second loss and is now 7-2
• Jordan Thompson had another big night with 31 kills on a .300 attack percentage performance. She also had nine digs
• Armania Heckenmueller totaled 60 assists in the match and recorded a double-double with 11 digs
• Erica Kostelac had one of her best matches this year with 18 kills. She hit an impressive .485 while also adding in four blocks, including one solo
• Abby Williams led the team in both digs and aces, finishing with 16 and three, respectively. She also had six assists
• Carly Nolan almost recorded a double-double with 15 digs and nine kills
• Jasmine Jones had a team-high five blocks with one solo
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENT
"What a really exciting match against a super strong team. We knew last year when we were creating this schedule that we wanted to give us great competition and also to give us situation where we knew we could play some really strong RPI teams to keep helping us throughout the season. We knew coming in to this weekend that all three of these teams are going to win a lot. What a rebound from this morning to come back and play a loaded ETSU team. They have a lot of arms and some heavy arm swinging. Their ball control is fantastic. Their setter does a great job. I think we stayed the course, cleaned up our game a little bit and really pushed through a five-set match, which is tough. To be down 14-12 and come back and win 16-14 is just incredible mental strength. Emily Azzara had three serves at the end of the match, so to come in and score all those points for us and to make plays in transition with our blocking and attacking was really incredible. Overall as a team to hit .302 is pretty amazing. I'm really impressed with our swinging. Our serving stepped back up again tonight. It was another great team effort. Every time we say that and I talk about it, I don't mean for it to be a casual statement. I really believe that volleyball is the ultimate team sport and you have to have a complete team out there competing, and that's what we did tonight."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-18
The Bearcats came out firing, scoring the first six points and leading 7-2 early on. Multiple kills from Nolan and Thompson gave UC the early lead. Once up, the Bearcats never looked back. Thompson scored three consecutive points on kills off assists from Heckenmueller to make the lead 14-7. Later on, a kill from Kostelac made it set point. An ace by Emily Azzara ended the first set in the Bearcats' favor.
Set 2: ETSU, 28-26
UC took the first two point of the set with kills by Thompson. ETSU caught back up, though, and was able to tie the set at nine. Thompson added in two more kills before a kill from the Bucs tied the set back up at eleven. The set continued to go back-and-forth until three-straight points from ETSU put them up 16-14. Despite being down by three, 23-20, UC remained tough. Three consecutive points were scored by the Bearcats thanks to a service error and two more Thompson kills to knot the set at 23 all. Kostelac tied it later at 25 with a kill. Another kill by Kostelac tied it yet again at 26. However, the Bucs scored the final two points on an attack error and a block to win the second set and tie the match.
Set 3: ETSU, 25-15
The Buccaneers led 2-0 at the beginning until two kills by Thompson tied the set early on. However, an attack error allowed ETSU to pull ahead and they led the rest of the way. The Bearcats made a late run on a Thompson kill, attack error and an ace by Chrysanthi Stamatiou, but a UC error gave ETSU the last point they needed to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set 4: UC, 25-18
The Bearcats took the first two points on a kill from Jones and then a block by Jones and Maria Mallon. UC went on a big run with a kill by Dasha Cabarkapa, two from Kostelac and an ace by Williams. That string of points made it an 11-6 set. The Bearcats kept it going with three more points to make it an 8-0 run. Those three came via an attack error, block by Kostelac and anther ace by Williams. Kostelac came up with another kill to end the set and take the match to the fifth set.
Set 5: UC, 16-14
The fifth and final set was intense the whole way through. ETSU scored the first point before Thompson answered with two kills. Jones gave UC the lead later on a kill of her own to go up 4-3. The tide turned after that as the Bucs took a two-point lead, but Mallon came back and tied the set at six with a kill. ETSU led by three at the 10-7 mark. A 3-0 Bearcats' run with two kills by Kostelac and an ace from Williams brought the set to an even 10-10. The Buccaneers got the advantage again but the Bearcats kept it close by bringing the set to ties at 11 and 12. ETSU eyed match-point up 14-12 after an ace, causing UC to take a timeout and regroup. The break worked, because UC came out and scored the next two points to make it 14-14. A huge solo block by Cabarkapa made it match point for the Bearcats and a ETSU error solidified the victory.
// NEXT MATCH.
UC finishes its action in the Duke Invitational with a match against Coastal Carolina on Saturday at noon.
// 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).