Thursday, Feb. 11

Wichita State 3, Tulsa 0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23)	Box Score
Houston 3, No. RV SMU 0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-22	Box Score
Cincinnati 3, East Carolina 1 (25-21, 24-26, 27-25, 25-23	Box Score

Wichita State 3, Tulsa 0

Wichita State (6-0, 1-0) won its American Athletic Conference opener with a 3-0 win at Tulsa (0-1, 0-1). The Shockers won by scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-23.

Nicole Anderson led the Shockers with 13 kills and also added nine digs, while hitting .300. In her season debut, Brylee Kelly had 11 kills and hit .455. Kayce Litzau had a double-double with 18 assists and 11 digs, while Sina Uluave added 11 digs.

The first set went back and forth until back-to-back kills from Megan Taflinger put the Shockers up 15-12. Tulsa pulled within 19-18 on a kill by Callie Cook, but the Shockers ended the set on a 6-1 run, highlighted by two service aces from McKayla Wuensch, for the 25-19 win.

Kills from Brylee Kelly, Emma Wright and Nicole Anderson gave the Shockers an early 4-1 lead in the second set. Back-to-back kills from Anderson pushed the lead to 8-3, but the Golden Hurricane used a 3-0 run to pull within 9-7. Kills by Taflinger and Brooke Smith made the score 14-9, but again Tulsa answered with a run, this time 5-0, to tie it at 14. The two teams traded points until the Shockers pulled away late for the 25-19 win.

The Golden Hurricane jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the third set before the Shockers responded with a 6-0 run to take a 7-4 lead. Another service ace from Wuensch pushed the lead to 11-5 and a block by Sophia Rohling and Smith increased the lead to 16-10. Tulsa rallied to pull within 24-23, but the Shockers won the set 25-23 on a block by Kelly and Taflinger.

Houston 3, No. RV SMU 0

The University of Houston Volleyball team opened American Athletic Conference Action in sweeping action, taking down SMU (25-19, 25-16, 25-22) on Thursday night.

With the win, the Cougars (4-1, 1-0 AAC) extend their winning streak to four, while the Mustangs (4-1, 0-1 AAC) drop their first contest of the season. This is the second time in as many years, Houston has opened conference play with a win over SMU.

Cincinnati 3, East Carolina 1

The University of Cincinnati volleyball team opened American Athletic Conference play with a 3-1 victory over East Carolina, Thursday afternoon inside Fifth Third Arena. 

Cincinnati (3-2, 1-0 AAC) now leads the all-time series 16-3 against ECU (1-1, 0-1 AAC) and 9-0 inside Fifth Third Arena. 

The Bearcats accumulated 66 kills against the Pirates with 11 service aces.

NOTES
Maria Mallon led the way in her first match of the season totaling a double-double with 21 kills and 21 digs. Her 21 kills were the most for a UC player this season and she averaged both 5.25 digs and kills per set.
Ashley Kozer came out with 57 assists and three blocks both of which were career highs and brought her season assist total to 233. 
Kerstin Ficker hammered five services aces for the Bearcats, a career high. 
Alexander Kwasnik set career highs across the board with seven kills, two blocks and a single assist and dig

SET BREAKDOWN 
SET 1: UC, 25-21
ECU struck first, putting the Pirates on top 2-0. Following a brief tie by the Bearcats, ECU would go on a three-point streak, including a service ace by Camryn Allen. In the middle of the set, Sarah Norcom followed up with an Ace of her own, bringing UC within two at 10-8. Things remained even through 19, where a kill by Adria Oliver put the Bearcats on top and started a five-point streak including two service aces by Ficker, lining UC up for the set point. The Bearcats would take set one on a kill by Oliver. 
 
SET 2: ECU, 26-24
The Bearcats came out to an early lead where a service ace by Mallon put the Bearcats up 6-3, forcing an ECU timeout. UC slowly began to run the score up, where another kill by Mallon put the Bearcats up 16-9. ECU would then answer, putting up eight points out of 10, bringing them within one point of the Bearcats at 18-17. A set of attack errors in the Pirates favor would put them on top 22-21. The battle would swing ECU's way when an attack error awarded the Pirates the second set with a score of 26-24.
 
SET 3: UC, 27-25
The Pirates kept their momentum rolling into the third set, going on a three-point streak to start with a service ace by to take them to a 3-0 lead. Another service ace by ECU's Alisi Motu'apuaka extended the Pirates lead to 13-8 and forced a UC timeout. The Bearcats would return and slowly begin chipping away at the score, bringing it within one late in the third on a service ace by Payton Frederick. UC reclaimed the lead at 26-25 after a long rally. Madison Waters finished out the third set with a pair of kills and claimed the third set for the Bearcats. 
 
SET 4: UC, 25-23
The battle pressed on into the fourth set with thing remaining tied up through eight. ECU then kicked started some momentum and put together a seven-point streak taking the lead 13-8. The Bearcats would answer with a streak of their own late in the fourth, where a pair of aces by Ficker reclaimed the lead for UC, 20-19. The margin grew by two on another service ace by Kozer, setting the Bearcats up for a match point. An attack error in UC's favor would allow it to take the fourth set and a 3-1 victory over the Pirates.