Bearcats Take on Mountaineers on the Road

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati volleyball team travels to West Virginia to face the Mountaineers at 6 p.m. in the Hope Coliseum.

The match will stream on ESPN+.

// SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati holds a 17-3 lead all-time over West Virginia. The Bearcats have won the last five matchups. They swept last year’s two-match series, claiming both victories in four sets.

// PERFORMING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
Sydney Nolan and Kate Lijic have been among the nation’s best this season. Nolan has notched four 20-plus-kill matches, including 25 kills in the reverse-sweep win over Illinois for the fourth-most in a Big 12 five-set match, 23 kills against Michigan for the most in a Big 12 three-set match, 21 kills against Xavier, and 21 kills against UCF. Nolan ranks 30th nationally and seventh in the Big 12 in kills per set at 4.14.

Lijic ranks 48th nationally and third in the Big 12 in assists per set at 9.96, highlighted by setting her career high with 54 assists against Illinois.

// NEWCOMER IMPACT
Cincinnati has received significant contributions from its newcomers, with juniors Lijic and Andrea Simovski and freshmen Viktoria Ninova and Nina Scrucca making immediate impacts for the Bearcats.

Lijic set a career high with 54 assists against Illinois, has totaled 40 or more assists in five contests and 30 or more in nine, and ranks third in the Big 12 and 48th in the nation in assists per set at 9.96. Ninova leads Cincinnati in digs with 181 at 3.55 per set, recorded a career-best 18 against Michigan and Ball State, and has posted 10-plus digs in 11 matches to rank seventh in the Big 12 in digs per set.

Simovski has posted two double-doubles with 13 kills and 13 digs against Illinois and 11 kills and 10 digs against Houston. Lijic and Scrucca lead the Bearcats in service aces with 17 apiece, while Scrucca ranks second on the team in kills with 148 at 2.90 per set while hitting a team-best .323 clip.

// CINCINNATI DIGS DEEP
Cincinnati ranks fourth in the Big 12 in digs per set at 13.63, paced by Ninova’s team-leading 3.55 per set. Ninova registered 18 digs (6.0 per set) against Michigan and Ball State, both tied for sixth-best by a conference player in a three-set match. The Bearcats recorded the most digs with 59 in a three-set match by any Big 12 team this season against Michigan on Sept. 5, 2026.

// PINPOINT ACCURACY
Cincinnati is averaging 1.80 aces per set, good for second in the Big 12 and 45th in the nation. The Bearcats recorded 12 aces against Illinois, which stands as the second-most by a conference team this season.

Scrucca recorded five aces against Illinois for the third-most by a conference player in a single match this year. Simovski and Ninova posted four aces apiece against Syracuse, and Nolan added four aces against Houston.

// EFFICIENT ATTACKING
The Bearcats possess the seventh-highest team hitting percentage in the Big 12 and rank 36th nationally at .259.

Cincinnati has notched two of the top five most efficient attacking matches in the conference, hitting .477 with 42 kills, eight errors and 76 total attacks against Syracuse on Aug. 29, 2026, and .435 with 53 kills, six errors and 108 total attacks against Ball State on Sept. 15, 2026.

The Bearcats hit .447 against Syracuse, led by Simovski with 11 kills on .500 hitting, Scrucca with nine kills on .368 hitting, six kills apiece from Nolan and Audrey Rome, and five kills on an .833 clip from Lilian Entenmann.

Against Ball State, Nolan led three Bearcats with double-digit kills by finishing with 14, followed by Scrucca with 13 kills on .591 hitting and Izzy Bisignani with 10. Scrucca recorded a career-high 17 kills against Xavier while hitting an incredible .652, marking the sixth-best single-match hitting percentage by a Big 12 player this season.

// RECAPPING LAST MATCH
Cincinnati fell to Iowa State, 3-1, on Oct. 11, with Iowa State winning by scores of 25-17, 25-18, 17-25 and 25-20. Nolan led the Bearcats with 10 kills, while Scrucca added nine kills and three block assists.

Simovski finished with seven kills and 11 digs, and Ligia Williams had five kills while hitting .333, plus four blocks, three of them solo. Lijic paced Cincinnati with 22 assists in three sets, and Ninova added 15 digs and three service aces.

Iowa State was led by Mesaiya Bettis’ 14 kills and Nayeli Ti’a’s 13. Daaliyah Kemp hit .538 with seven kills and no errors, and libero Rachel Van Gorp posted 21 digs.

Cincinnati hit .175 with 39 kills, compared with Iowa State’s .184 on 51 kills. The Bearcats had more digs (60-59) and more blocks (9-7) and committed fewer attack errors (17-23).