TicketsCINCINNATI — The Cincinnati volleyball team travels to Manhattan, Kan., to face Kansas State on Friday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. ET at Morgan Family Arena, then heads to Lawrence, Kan., to face No. 15 Kansas on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. ET at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena. Both matches will stream on ESPN+.
// SERIES HISTORY
Kansas State: The Wildcats lead the all-time series 3-2, but the Bearcats won the most recent meeting earlier this season, 3-0 on Oct. 22 at Fifth Third Arena (25-23, 25-16, 25-22), hitting .425 in the match.
Kansas: The Jayhawks lead the all-time series 4-0. Last season, the then-No. 13 Jayhawks beat the Bearcats 3-0 in Lawrence.
// DEFENSIVE MASTERCLASS VS. ARIZONA
Cincinnati had 110 digs against Arizona, the most by a Big 12 team this season, second in the nation and a program record in the rally-scoring era. Four Bearcats reached double-digit digs. Freshman libero Viktoria Ninova had a career-high 34, the most by a conference player in a match this season. Andrea Simovski added 22, Ava Ledebuhr 15 and Kate Lijic 10.
// 20/20 VISION FOR SIMOVSKI
Junior outside hitter Simovski had a season-high 24 kills and a career-best 22 digs against Arizona. She is the first Power 4 player in the nation this season with 20-plus kills and 20-plus digs in a single match. It was her third double-double of the year, along with 13 kills and 13 digs against Illinois and 11 kills and 10 digs against Houston.
// PERFORMING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
Sydney Nolan and Lijic have been among the nation’s best this season. Nolan has one 30-kill match and seven 20-plus-kill matches:
- 30 kills in the five-set win over Arizona, the most by a Big 12 player this season
- 25 kills in the reverse-sweep win at Illinois, the sixth-most in a Big 12 five-set match
- 24 kills against Colorado
- 23 kills against Michigan, the most in a Big 12 three-set match
- 21 kills each against West Virginia, UCF and Xavier
She ranks 13th nationally and second in the Big 12 in kills per set (4.45).
Lijic ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 73rd nationally in assists per set (9.63). She set her career high with 54 assists against Illinois.
// NEWCOMER IMPACT
Cincinnati has received significant contributions from its newcomers, with juniors Lijic and Simovski and freshmen Ninova and Nina Scrucca making immediate impacts.
- Lijic has 40-plus assists in seven matches and 30-plus in 13.
- Ninova leads the Bearcats with 257 digs (3.62 per set), which ranks seventh in the Big 12. She has had 10-plus digs in 14 matches and recorded 18 digs (6.0 per set) against both Michigan and Ball State.
- Ninova and Lijic lead the team with 24 service aces each.
- Scrucca is second on the team in kills with 179 (2.56 per set) on a .275 clip.
// CINCINNATI DIGS DEEP
Cincinnati ranks fourth in the Big 12 in digs per set (13.70). Ninova’s 18 digs against Michigan and Ball State are each the sixth-best by a conference player in a three-set match. The Bearcats’ 59 digs against Michigan on Sept. 5 are the sixth-most in a three-set match by a Big 12 team this season.
// PINPOINT ACCURACY
Cincinnati is averaging 1.73 aces per set, the second-best mark in the Big 12 and 56th nationally. The Bearcats had 12 aces against Illinois, the second-most by a conference team this season. Scrucca had five of those, the second-most in a five-set match and the third-most by a conference player in any match this season. Simovski and Ninova each had four aces against Syracuse, and Nolan had four against Houston.
// EFFICIENT ATTACKING
Cincinnati ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 37th nationally in team hitting percentage (.257). The Bearcats own three of the conference’s eight most efficient attacking performances this season:
- 4: .447 (42-8-76) vs. Syracuse (Aug. 29)
- 5: .435 (53-6-108) vs. Ball State (Sept. 15)
- 8: .425 (43-6-87) vs. Kansas State (Oct. 22)
Against Kansas State, Nolan led all players with 16 kills on .417 hitting, Ligia Williams added eight (.455), and Cincinnati hit at least .400 in all three sets while finishing with 43 kills. Against Syracuse, Simovski had 11 kills on .500 hitting, Scrucca nine on .368, Nolan and Audrey Rome six each, and Lilian Entenmann five on an .833 clip. Against Ball State, Nolan led three Bearcats in double figures with 14 kills, Scrucca added 13 on .591 hitting and Izzy Busignani had 10. Scrucca also had a career-high 17 kills against Xavier on .652 hitting, the sixth-best single-match mark by a Big 12 player this season.
// RECAPPING LAST MATCH
Cincinnati swept West Virginia 3-0 on Sunday, Nov. 1, at Fifth Third Arena (25-13, 25-17, 25-22), improving to 11-9 overall and 4-6 in the Big 12. The Bearcats held the Mountaineers (11-10, 4-7) to a .037 hitting percentage, outblocked them 11.0 to 6.0 and hit .318 as a team.
Nolan led the attack with 13 kills on .435 hitting and added a solo block. Williams hit .455 with eight kills and four block assists, and Scrucca had seven kills (.417) and two block assists. Entenmann had four kills and five block assists, and Lijic had a career-best six block assists along with 31 assists. Simovski led the back row with six digs, Ledebuhr and Ninova each had five, and Ninova served two of the team’s three aces. Anna Barr and Nina Horning each had seven kills for West Virginia.
Cincinnati held West Virginia to a minus-.182 mark in the first set, leading 11-5 and 21-8. The Bearcats hit .483 in the second set with 16 kills and two errors on 29 attempts, and Williams went 5-for-5 on swings. West Virginia pushed back in the third, leading 16-15 and 22-21, but Cincinnati closed on a 4-0 run, capped by a Simovski kill and a West Virginia attack error on set point.
// SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kansas State (10-9, 2-9 Big 12) is in its fourth season under head coach Jason Mansfield, who is 54-47 overall as a collegiate head coach. Six of the Wildcats’ nine losses have come against nationally ranked teams, and six of their Big 12 losses have been to teams in the top 35 of the RPI. They are 9-0 against teams outside the top 100.
Freshman Addison Massey is fourth in the Big 12 and 17th nationally in kills per set (4.38), and her 4.85 points per set rank fifth in the league and 22nd among all Division I players. Freshman pin Skylar Brady and junior setter Emerson Van Lannen each recorded their second career double-doubles in Week 10.
Libero Fuka Sekita anchors the defense. Her 24 digs against CSUN on Sept. 4 set a school record for a three-set match in the rally-scoring era, breaking the old mark of 23 set in 2007 and 2019. She has 251 digs in her first season with the Wildcats, 11th in the Big 12, and reached 600 career NCAA digs on Oct. 30. Counting 1,297 digs at New Mexico Military Institute, she has 1,912 career collegiate digs.
// SCOUTING THE NO. 15 JAYHAWKS
Kansas (16-5, 9-2 Big 12) is in its second season under head coach Matt Ulmer, who is 40-16 (.714) at Kansas and 206-93 (.689) in 10 seasons overall, including 166-77 (.683) in eight seasons at Oregon. The Jayhawks host No. 24 Baylor on Friday before welcoming the Bearcats on Sunday. They held at No. 15 in the latest AVCA poll. Last week, they claimed their first win inside Allen Fieldhouse since 2013 by sweeping Kansas State, completing a season sweep of the Sunflower Showdown, then beat Iowa State in four sets.
Kansas is strong across the board. As a team, it ranks fifth nationally and first in the Big 12 in assists per set. It is ninth nationally and first in the league in aces per set (2.03), and ninth nationally and second in the conference in hitting percentage (.282).
Sophomore setter Reese Messer ranks 12th nationally and first in the Big 12 in assists per set (10.70). She earned her fourth Big 12 Setter of the Week award last week, averaging 11.57 assists and 1.86 digs per set in wins over Kansas State and Iowa State, including 27 assists in the sweep of the Wildcats. Earlier this season, she had a career-high 54 assists in a road win at Baylor. Messer also made the Big 12 Starting Seven and earned a monthly award for the Big 12 In-Season Challenge, leading the league with 363 assists through nine matches while adding 89 digs, 23 kills and eight blocks.
Freshman Taylor Stanley ranks 21st nationally and fifth in the Big 12 in kills per set (4.32). She also made the Starting Seven and earned a monthly award, totaling 125 kills, 56 digs, 30 blocks and 14 aces through nine matches.
// GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY
Single-match tickets are $15 for courtside seating, based on availability, and $10 for general admission. Group general admission tickets are available for $5. Family 4-Packs are also available for all weekend matches (Friday through Sunday), which include four tickets and a $20 concession voucher.
To secure your spots for the upcoming season, click HERE to purchase your tickets online, or contact the Bearcats Ticket Office at 513-556-2287 today.