Friday, September 23
Cincinnati 3, Tulane 1 – Box Score
UCF 3, Memphis 0 – Box Score
Wichita State 3, Temple 0 – Box Score
Tulsa 3, East Carolina 2 – Box Score
SMU 3, South Florida 1 – Box Score
 
Recaps
Cincinnati 3, Tulane 1 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The University of Cincinnati volleyball team opened its American Athletic Conference slate with a four-set win over Tulane on Friday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in New Orleans, La.
 
Freshman Carly Glendinning led the Bearcat attack with a career-high 17 kills at a .300 hitting percentage. Sophomore Abby Walker notched 11 kills (.409), including the match-winner, while freshman Avry Tatum was the third Bearcat in double figures with 10 kills at a .269 clip.
 
Sophomore Shaye Eggleston came off the bench and contributed nine kills with only one attacking error for a .421 hitting percentage. Senior Payton Frederick steadied the Bearcats' backrow with a match-high 17 digs.
 
Green Wave outside hitter Melissa Kolurbasi also got in her fair share of kills with 11 and a .273 hitting percentage. Kolurbasi also claimed two digs and an assist with the addition of one solo block. The Green Wave saw offensive power from middle blockers Kayla Kaiser, who hit an excellent .364 with 10 kills.
 
Libero Jillian Dits carried the defensive duties with 17 digs and nine assists. Senior setter Kate Van Houten moved the ball with grace, tallying 41 assists, 8 kills and four digs.
 
UCF 3, Memphis 0 – Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn.— The UCF volleyball team (9-0) began AAC play in style on Friday night, defeating Memphis (10-4) in three sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) at Larry O. Finch Center.
 
The first set UCF took the first point them Memphis answered back with a kill to tie it up, 1-1. The Knights took back the lead with an attack error from the Tigers. Memphis took a four point run at the 15th point but couldn't keep up with the Knight who continued the lead the entire set.
 
The second set started out close featuring four ties. The Black and Gold went on a 4-0 run in the middle of the set to go up 14-9.
In the third set, Memphis took the lead for the first time, 3-2. The Knights fought back with a 3-0 run to take the lead and held on it for the remainder of the match.
 
McKenna Melville and Abby Hansen led the offense with a combined 28 kills. Melville added in 10 digs along with one block assist. Hansen contributed one dig and two block assists.
 
Kari Zumach has a big night as well, putting up nine kills. Amber Olson continued to help out the Knight's offense with 43 assists.
 
Wichita State 3, Temple 0 – Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State held Temple to a hitting percentage of .000, sweeping the Owls 25-13, 25-21, 25-15 on Friday night at Charles Koch Arena in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
 
The Shockers (6-6) shut down one of the conference's most powerful hitters in Temple's Taylor Davenport, who entered the match averaging more than four points per set. The Shockers forced her into 13 errors on 36 swings, managing just seven kills for a -.167 attack percentage. With Davenport limited, Wichita State went showcased their arsenal of offensive weapons, hitting .307 and getting three or more kills from six different players.
 
The first set was all Shockers, as a blistering 9-0 run keyed by Brylee Kelly at the service line turned a 9-8 lead into an overwhelming 18-8 advantage. Natalie Foster and Sophia Rohling each had a trio of kills in the flurry, and the Shockers also got four blocks in the frame to enhance the margin. After the Owls (6-6) fought off a pair of set points, a service error from Magdalena Rogalska clinched the opening set at 25-13 for WSU.
 
In the second, it was Temple that established an early offensive rhythm, building a 12-6 lead on the strength of three kills from Jelena Prolic. But the Shockers slowly whittled away at the deficit, then erased it completely with a massive 10-1 run. Trailing 19-14, WSU picked up two kills apiece from Kayce Litzau and Morgan Stout, combined with three straight attack errors from Davenport, the last of which was upheld after a Temple challenge. A WSU service error made it 24-21, but the Shockers clinched the set on the succeeding point thanks to incredible individual efforts from Annalie Heliste and Brylee Kelly, the former of which kept the play alive twice with diving ups, and the latter of which ended the set with an emphatic solo block.
 
Wichita State controlled the third set from start to finish, never trailing after taking an early 3-2 lead. A 7-2 run in the middle stages gave the Shockers all the cushion they would need, ballooning the margin to 17-8 and prompting a pair of Temple timeouts. The lead grew to ten at 19-9, and WSU cruised to the finish thanks to kills from Stout and Kelly.
 
It was a balanced offensive effort for WSU, with Kelly's nine kills leading the way. Foster hit .700 with eight kills on just ten attempts, while Rohling added seven and Stout five. Litzau delivered 28 assists, while Morgan Weber paced the Shockers with 10 digs and Lily Liekweg had nine.
 
Tulsa 3, East Carolina 2 – Box Score
Tulsa, Okla. – The Tulsa volleyball team won a five-set thriller over East Carolina to open conference play with a win on Friday night.
 
Kayley Cassaday led Tulsa with 22 kills, while Bailey Rowe added 15. Avery Kalsu and Bradyen Hipp paced the Hurricane with 26 assists and 24 assists while leading the team to a .220 hitting percentage.
 
For East Carolina, freshman Angeles Alderete led the team with 20 kills while Payton Evenstad (30 assists) and Julianna Askew (21 assists) paced the squad. Kenzie Beckham led the Pirates with 17 digs.
 
SMU 3, South Florida 1 – Box Score
DALLAS, Texas – SMU claimed a 3-1 (25-18, 25-15, 23-25, 25-16) victory over USF in the American Athletic Conference opener for both sides Friday at Moody Coliseum.
 
The Mustangs faced one tie at 1-1 in game two and never trailed in the first, second and fourth sets. In the opener, SMU claimed its largest lead of the game at 22-15. After a timeout by the Bulls, the teams split the next six points, securing a seven-point win for the Mustangs.
 
USF's attempt to slow down the SMU offense proved futile in game two. The Bulls faced deficits of 10-3 and 18-8 when they called timeouts, but neither were effective in slowing down the Mustangs. USF fended off two set points before succumbing 25-15.
 
Despite building a 16-10 advantage in the third game, SMU failed to close out the match. The teams traded winners through the early stage of the stanza. Knotted at 7-7, the home side ran off nine of the next 12 points to move in front by six. USF closed with a 15-2 spurt to force a fourth set.
 
Similar to the first two games, USF had no answer in the final game. The Mustangs jumped out to an 14-5 advantage before cruising to the nine-point triumph.