TicketsWICHITA, Kan. – University of Cincinnati volleyball muscled out a five-set victory on the road at Wichita State Sunday afternoon in a high-intensity match.
Jordan Thompson broke numerous records on the day. Already the American Athletic Conference career leader in points and kills and the nation's season-leader in points and kills, Thompson's 44 kills was immensely impressive. The redshirt-junior now owns the single-match kills record for the AAC, University of Cincinnati and Koch Arena. The previous arena record of 40 kills was accomplished by Catalina Suarez of UKMC on November 8, 1988. The previous AAC and UC record was 37 and 36 kills, respectively. Thompson seemed to get better as the match went on, as she totaled eight kills on a .889 hitting percentage in the final set.
// NOTES
• UC improves to 16-4 on the season and remains undefeated in conference play at 7-0
• Wichita State falls to 9-9 and 4-3
• Thompson also added in nine digs and two aces to her performance
• Erica Kostelac had 15 kills while hitting .438 in the match
• Jade Tingelhoff led the team with 43 assists. With 11 digs, she surpassed 1,000 digs in her career
• Abby Williams finished with 26 digs
• Jasmine Jones led with five blocks, including two solo
• The win was number 102 for Head Coach Molly Alvey in her time at Cincinnati. She now ranks second in wins in program history
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENT
"What an incredible match played by both teams. Offensively, the numbers for both Wichita State and us have to be just out-of-this-world. Both teams sided out well, both teams hit incredibly well. It was a really high-level offensive match tonight. Jordan has played consistent over the season but, I do have to say, she was just flat amazing today. Some of the shots and angles that she hit were incredible. She looked great. We went in with an objective today on a very specific defensive plan and I think in the long run we really had some people step up and make some plays for us. Carly's middle-back defense was unbelievable. She really picked up some balls and kept us in the match. When you talk about such a high-level of play and you have a defender play the defense that she did – her and Abby Williams, as well. Abby Williams played some fantastic defense. It was a fun match for everybody, all the way around. It was a great crowd, great match."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: WSU, 25-23
The Bearcats opened up the match with a kill by Maria Mallon, but the Shockers scored the next three points and were able to maintain the lead, although UC challenged the whole way through the set. Down 7-3, a block by Jones and Thompson and two Kostelac kills got it back to just a one-point deficit. UC never got down by two the whole rest of the way, but could not get in front. Once it was 19-18, the teams switched points on every play with no back-to-back scores for either team. Wichita State was able to take the opening set on a kill.
Set 2: UC, 25-20
UC came out strong in the second set. After each team earned a point, Mallon had back-to-back kills to get ahead. Later on, the Bearcats put together a 4-0 run to force the Shockers to call a timeout. Thompson and Kostelac each had a kill and two WSU errors made the run possible. Wichita State was able to get the set to within one, 13-12, but a kill by Kostelac followed by one from Thompson allowed the Bearcats to keep in front. Jones had a big solo block later on before Thompson ended things on a kill.
Set 3: WSU, 31-29
The third set went long in a high-intensity battle by both sides. UC had an early advantage off a Thompson kill followed by a Thompson ace. The Bearcats lead 10-8 after Dasha Cabarkapa had a solo block and took two point leads later on when Thompson added more kills to her growing total. Wichita State worked back to tie the set and was able to grab the lead for good at 18-17. A big solo block by Carly Nolan gave UC set-point, but WSU answered. The match was tied at every score from 23 through 29 before the Shockers scored the final two on a UC attack error and a kill.
Set 4: UC, 25-21
The Bearcats bounced right back to tie the match at 2-2 in the fourth set. It went back-and-forth at the start until UC broke a 5-5 tie on a Mallon and Jones block. Back-to-back kills by Thompson grew the lead to 11-8 and Wichita State called a timeout. A kill by Mallon later in the set put the lead at four, 16-12. Yet another Thompson kill forced another WSU timeout with UC leading 19-14. Down the stretch, the Shockers pulled within two. However, a kill by Jones, WSU error and a Thompson kill sent the match into the fifth set.
Set 5: UC, 15-11
UC scored the first point of the set on a WSU attack error and really never looked back from there. Three early kills by Thompson gave the Bearcats a 4-1 advantage. More kills from Thompson and one by Mallon had UC up by four, 12-8. The momentum kept rolling, as another Thompson kill, one from Jones and a service error resulted in a UC victory.
// NEXT MATCH
The Bearcats return home for their final games played at St. Ursula Academy. UC will host USF on Friday at 7 p.m. and UCF on Sunday at 1 p.m.
// 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 numerous records on the day. Already the American Athletic Conference career leader in points and kills and the nation's season-leader in points and kills, Thompson's 44 kills was immensely impressive. The redshirt-junior now owns the single-match kills record for the AAC, University of Cincinnati and Koch Arena. The previous arena record of 40 kills was accomplished by Catalina Suarez of UKMC on November 8, 1988. The previous AAC and UC record was 37 and 36 kills, respectively. Thompson seemed to get better as the match went on, as she totaled eight kills on a .889 hitting percentage in the final set.
// NOTES
• UC improves to 16-4 on the season and remains undefeated in conference play at 7-0
• Wichita State falls to 9-9 and 4-3
• Thompson also added in nine digs and two aces to her performance
• Erica Kostelac had 15 kills while hitting .438 in the match
• Jade Tingelhoff led the team with 43 assists. With 11 digs, she surpassed 1,000 digs in her career
• Abby Williams finished with 26 digs
• Jasmine Jones led with five blocks, including two solo
• The win was number 102 for Head Coach Molly Alvey in her time at Cincinnati. She now ranks second in wins in program history
// COACH ALVEY'S COMMENT
"What an incredible match played by both teams. Offensively, the numbers for both Wichita State and us have to be just out-of-this-world. Both teams sided out well, both teams hit incredibly well. It was a really high-level offensive match tonight. Jordan has played consistent over the season but, I do have to say, she was just flat amazing today. Some of the shots and angles that she hit were incredible. She looked great. We went in with an objective today on a very specific defensive plan and I think in the long run we really had some people step up and make some plays for us. Carly's middle-back defense was unbelievable. She really picked up some balls and kept us in the match. When you talk about such a high-level of play and you have a defender play the defense that she did – her and Abby Williams, as well. Abby Williams played some fantastic defense. It was a fun match for everybody, all the way around. It was a great crowd, great match."
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: WSU, 25-23
The Bearcats opened up the match with a kill by Maria Mallon, but the Shockers scored the next three points and were able to maintain the lead, although UC challenged the whole way through the set. Down 7-3, a block by Jones and Thompson and two Kostelac kills got it back to just a one-point deficit. UC never got down by two the whole rest of the way, but could not get in front. Once it was 19-18, the teams switched points on every play with no back-to-back scores for either team. Wichita State was able to take the opening set on a kill.
Set 2: UC, 25-20
UC came out strong in the second set. After each team earned a point, Mallon had back-to-back kills to get ahead. Later on, the Bearcats put together a 4-0 run to force the Shockers to call a timeout. Thompson and Kostelac each had a kill and two WSU errors made the run possible. Wichita State was able to get the set to within one, 13-12, but a kill by Kostelac followed by one from Thompson allowed the Bearcats to keep in front. Jones had a big solo block later on before Thompson ended things on a kill.
Set 3: WSU, 31-29
The third set went long in a high-intensity battle by both sides. UC had an early advantage off a Thompson kill followed by a Thompson ace. The Bearcats lead 10-8 after Dasha Cabarkapa had a solo block and took two point leads later on when Thompson added more kills to her growing total. Wichita State worked back to tie the set and was able to grab the lead for good at 18-17. A big solo block by Carly Nolan gave UC set-point, but WSU answered. The match was tied at every score from 23 through 29 before the Shockers scored the final two on a UC attack error and a kill.
Set 4: UC, 25-21
The Bearcats bounced right back to tie the match at 2-2 in the fourth set. It went back-and-forth at the start until UC broke a 5-5 tie on a Mallon and Jones block. Back-to-back kills by Thompson grew the lead to 11-8 and Wichita State called a timeout. A kill by Mallon later in the set put the lead at four, 16-12. Yet another Thompson kill forced another WSU timeout with UC leading 19-14. Down the stretch, the Shockers pulled within two. However, a kill by Jones, WSU error and a Thompson kill sent the match into the fifth set.
Set 5: UC, 15-11
UC scored the first point of the set on a WSU attack error and really never looked back from there. Three early kills by Thompson gave the Bearcats a 4-1 advantage. More kills from Thompson and one by Mallon had UC up by four, 12-8. The momentum kept rolling, as another Thompson kill, one from Jones and a service error resulted in a UC victory.
// NEXT MATCH
The Bearcats return home for their final games played at St. Ursula Academy. UC will host USF on Friday at 7 p.m. and UCF on Sunday at 1 p.m.
// 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).