Friday, Jan. 29

Cincinnati 3, Illinois State 1 (21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-16)	Box Score
FGCU 3, USF 2 (25-22, 27-25, 20-25, 21-25, 15-17)	Box Score
SMU 3, Rice 2 (25-27, 25-20, 14-25, 25-18, 15-5)	Box Score
Memphis 3, Louisiana Tech (25-12, 25-18, 25-15)	Box Score

Cincinnati 3, Illinois State 1

The University of Cincinnati volleyball team beat Illinois State Friday, 3-1, in the first match of a two-day series at Redbird Arena.

Cincinnati (1-0) totaled 60 kills and 76 digs in their season-opening victory against the Redbirds (2-2). The Bearcats also had seven blocks and 4 service aces in Friday's win. 

NOTES

Madison Waters had 19 kills and completed the double-double with 15 digs. She also had one ace. 
Maria Tobergte secured a double-double of her own with 19 kills and 11 digs. Tobergte also secured an ace of her own. 

Ashley Kozer paced the team with 51 assists and had 19 digs to lead the team.
Payton Frederick had a strong match with 17 digs. 

SET BREAKDOWN

Set 1: ISU, 25-21
UC held on to a one-point lead for the majority of the first half of the set. Illinois State would start a four-point streak after a UC error, followed by an ace, served by Kaity Weimerskirch. The balance shifted in their favor and the Redbirds took a one-set lead. 

Set 2: UC, 25-22
The start of the second set went back-and-forth until UC got in front with a kill by Waters. The lead grew to five, 24-19, when an attack error on the Redbirds lined the Bearcats up for set point. Kozer set Tobergte up for the kill ending the second. 

Set 3: UC, 26-24
The Bearcats went up 3-1 early in the third with an ace by Kerstin Ficker. However, the momentum shifted in favor of Illinois State with seven unanswered points, including three aces served by Carley Nicholson. UC trailed for much of the latter parts of the set, pulling within two at several points, but a Redbirds point had the Bearcats on the brink, 24-21. From there, UC rattled off five straight points to pull ahead, led by a pair of kills from Oliver and three-straight by Waters to close out the set.

Set 4: UC, 25-16
UC took an early lead when Tobergte put up back-to-back points, with a kill followed by an ace, putting the Bearcats up 8-6. The led then grew to 19-10 with Madison Waters behind the helm, serving an ace and inducing an attack error from the Redbirds. UC would take the set and close out the match on a block error, set up by Waters and Dimitra Tziarli.

FGCU 3, USF 2

The USF women's volleyball team (2-1) waged an epic battle with defending Atlantic Sun Conference champion FGCU (1-0) in The Corral Friday, but the Eagles prevailed in five sets after rallying from a 2-0 set deficit and fending off two USF match points in the final set.

The teams will return to The Corral tomorrow for the rematch at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.

The Bulls hit .206 and logged 10 blocks in the match, while FGCU hit .213 and posted 15 blocks to win, 3-2 (25-22, 27-25, 20-25, 21-25, 15-17), and hand the Bulls their first loss of the season. USF got a strong performance from freshman Marta Cvitkovic (Rijeka, Croatia) who was hitting over .500 midway through before finishing with a team high 23 kills on a .296 hitting percentage and adding 11 digs. Junior setter Masha Idjilov (Moldova) logged 54 assists and seven digs and freshman Makayla Washington (Tallahassee) had 15 kills and three blocks.

"We didn't come out with the 'W' like we wanted, but I'm really proud of Jac (St. Cin) coming off the bench and bringing a lot energy and high, hard swings and Marta (Cvitkovic) held her own and scored a lot of great point," USF head coach Jolene Shepardson said. "Our team is going to grow in the capacity of high, hard swings, maintaining serving pressure and cleaning up some things."

FGCU jumped to an early lead in set one, but USF rallied tying the game first at 10 on an Ally Barnhart (Lenexa, Kan.) ace and again at 12 on a Washington kill. The Eagles responded with three straight points to take a 15-12 lead into the TV timeout. USF returned to the court with purpose and mounted a 7-1 run to take a 19-16 lead following an Idjilov block. A Cvitkovic kill made is 23-20 in favor of the Bulls and USF closed it out to take the first.

The second set remained tight. Freshman Sara Griffith's (Chicago) kill tied it at 12. FGCU built a 14-12 lead, before back-to-back kills by Washington and Barnhart led to a 15-14 USF lead. Three straight kills from Cvitkovic and a block from Barnhart gave the Bulls a 20-17 lead. FGCU rallied to tie it at 22 and force a Bulls timeout. USF led 26-25 after a kill from Agata Plaga (Gizycko, Poland) and took the set on an FGCU hitting error. Plaga, who has started the Bulls first three matches on the year, would later leave the match in the third set with an injury.

USF took a 10-8 lead in the third set following a pair of kills from Washington. An ace from Alexis Williams (St. Louis) and another kill from Cvitkovic gave the Bulls a 16-15 lead. Cvitkovic's 15th kill of the match tied it at 17, but FGCU responded with two straight points to take a 19-17 lead before another Cvitkovic kill stopped the run. Two big FGCU blocks made it 22-18 and the Eagles closed it out, 25-20, for their first set of the match.

FGCU jumped out to an early 9-5 lead in the fourth set and forced a USF timeout. The Bulls tried to chip away at the lead, but the Eagles kept them at bay and led 15-10 going into the TV timeout. Back-to-back kills for Jac St. Cin (St. Petersburg) cut the lead to 17-14 and a Cvitkovic kill made the FGCU lead to two, 18-16. A big combo block from Griffith and Washington and an FGCU error got the Bulls within one, 22-21, but FGCU closed out the final three points to take the set.

USF jumped to a 2-0 lead in the fifth set before a service error got FGCU on the boad. Another big block from Griffith and Washington made it 4-1. A pair of Barnhart blocks increased the USF lead to 8-5. A kill from St. Cin gave the Bulls a 12-8 lead and forced an FGCU timeout. St. Cin put another on the floor to make it 13-10. FGCU cut it to 13-12 on a block and USF called timeout. After a USF hitting error it was tied at 13-13 and Shepardson used another timeout. A Cvitkovic kill from the back row made it 14-13 for the Bulls first match point, but FGCU tied it again. St. Cin registered another kill to bring up match-point again, but FGCU tied it again at 15. An Eagles kill gave them the lead, 16-15, and then a block on a Cvitkovic swing closed out the set and match for FGCU.

Notables
• Freshman Marta Cvitkovic posted a career-best 23 kills while hitting .296 to lead the Bulls' attack. Her 25 points led the Bulls with Makayla Washington also reaching double-digits with 16.5 points (15 kills and three block assists).
• Sophomore Jac St. Cin came off the bench with strong play in the final two sets and finished with seven kills and five digs.
• Junior Masha Idjilov logged a career-best 54 assists and added 11 digs and two blocks.

SMU 3, Rice 2

SMU's volleyball program kicked off its 25th season with a win, rallying back from a 2-1 deficit to beat Rice 3-2 (25-27, 25-20, 14-25, 25-18, 15-5) in a non-conference match at Moody Coliseum Friday. Jadyn Bauss had a career-high 17 kills, including four in the decisive fifth set, to lead the Mustangs' attack.

The Mustangs (1-0), playing their first match since November 2019, saw their attack excel in the final two sets, hitting a combined .420. Three SMU players reached double figures in kills, as Hannah Jacobs added 16, including the match-clinching kill, and Rachel Woulfe added 11.

Bria' Merchant set a career-high with 27 digs, one of four Mustangs with double-digits. Makayla Miller had 15, Lily Heim had 13, and Bauss added 14. Heim added 49 assists to lead the team.

Nicole Lennon led the Owls (1-2) with 22 kills, and Nia McCardell had a match-high 33 digs.

Rice (1-2) took the opening set 27-25, earning five of their seven blocks in the opening frame. SMU took the second set 25-20, and the Owls opened up their lead with a 25-14 third set victory.

The Mustangs then turned up their attack in the fourth set, with Bauss notching six kills and Woulfe adding five to win the set 25-18. SMU gave up the first point of the fifth set, but then never trailed to earn a 15-5 victory.

Memphis 3, Louisiana Tech 0

In dominating fashion, the Memphis Tigers (2-1) cruised past the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (0-6) in straight sets. The Tigers picked up the win 25-12, 25-18, and 25-15.

"We talked about not letting off the gas and just pushing forward, understanding that they're going to do things on their side and it's about how we control it," said head coach Sean Burdette. At the end of the day, it's about taking advantage of opportunities and everyone across the board succeeded at that tonight."

Freshman Sam Drewry led the Tigers in kills for the third consecutive match. Jada Birkel and Miaya Smith each recorded eight kills, tied for second-most in the match. No Louisiana Tech player recorded more than four kills. The Lady Techsters had more attack errors (24) than kills (22). Memphis picked up the victory off of a quick turnaround, with only five days rest between matches.

"We did a really good job moving everyone around during the week and figuring out where everyone works best," said Burdette. "We're still trying to identify who we are. The extra time would be great to dial in on individual techniques, but at the end of the day, it's about being ready to play fairly quick."

Tigers Tidbits

Memphis has now won four consecutive matches against Louisiana Tech at home
The Tigers tallied seven service aces to none for Louisiana Tech
Bailey Houlihan led Memphis in digs (12) for the third consecutive match
In three matches this season, the Tigers have had a freshman lead the team in kills and digs
Memphis recorded seven blocks, one match after they didn't record a block until the final set of the loss to SIU