MATCH STATS
- Cincinnati def. UCF 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-21)
- Cincinnati moves to 4-10, 2-0 American; UCF falls to 8-6, 1-1 AAC
- Orlando, Florida
- Attendance: 387
- Box Score
ORLANDO – Redshirt senior outside hitter Kia Bright joined elite company, becoming the fifth player in UCF school history to join the 1,000-kill, 1000-dig club. The milestone, however, came in a three set loss to Cincinnati.
Bright accomplished the feat while posting a 12-kill, 11-dig double double, her ninth of the season. She reached the 1,000-kill milestone on Sept. 8 against Oral Roberts. She is the 11th UCF player to reach 1,000 digs.
Bright was the lone Knight player in double-digit kills, while freshman outside Kristina Fisher folowed with nine kills and eight digs. Sophomore middle blocker Jeanne Westney notched a team-best five blocks, while junior libero Jordan Pingel pulled up a team-leading 18 digs and two aces.
Junior outside Carly Nolan and redshirt freshman outside Erica Kostelac paced the Bearcats in the win with 14 and 11 kills respectively. Nolan rounded out a double-double with a team-leading 16 digs and team-high three blocks and two aces. Redshirt junior middle Jasmine Jones added eight kills on a team-high .467 hitting effort and three stuffs. Junior libero Abby Williams and junior setter Jade Tingelhoff turned in 12 digs apiece, while Tingelhoff finished off a double-double with 35 assists.
For the match, Cincinnati posted 16 more kills (45-29) and four more aces (8-4), while outhitting UCF .227 to .111. The Golden Knights did win the block 8-6.
Cincinnati took an early 7-4 lead, including two Nolan putaways. UCF countered with five of the next six points to grab a 9-8 lead with aces by Bright and Pingel. The teams split the next 12 points, leading to a 15-14 edge for the nights. Kills by Fisher and Westney and a stuff by Westney and Anne-Marie Watson put UCF on top 18-16. The Bearcats turned the tables with a 5-1 run, including two kills and an ace by Nolan. UCF tied it at 19, but could not break through as Cincinnati closed out the set at 25-22 on a stuff by Jones and Tingelhoff.
The Bearcats rattled off six of the first seven points in Set 2, including a trio of UCF miscues. Cincinnati stretched the lead to eight at 13-5 as Nolan and Jones each turned in a kill and a block and Tingerhoff notched an ace. The Knights would get no closer than four the rest of the way. The Bearcats wrapped up the set on a 5-2 run with Nolan delivering the final blow.
UCF jumped out to an 8-3 lead in Set 3 with help from three Cincinatti errors and a block and kill by Bright. The Bearcats countered with seven straight points, including five straight Knight miscues, to go up 10-8. UC pushed the lead to four at 15-11 on back-to-back aces by Maya Eller. UCF chipped away, tying the score at 18 on a block by Nerissa Moravec and Bright. After a tie at 19, Cincinnati pulled away for good with a 4-0 run including a Chysanth Stamatiou ace. The teams split the final four points, with a Fisher kill denying the first Bearcat set-point try at 24-20, before a Nolan putaway ended the night.
Only ? players in program history are in the 1,000-1,000 club.
Kia is now one of them! #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/QKhuCUbjPo
— UCF Volleyball (@UCF_Volleyball) September 24, 2017
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Cincinnati Athletics
The University of Cincinnati volleyball team is now 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play after defeating UCF in straight sets Sunday afternoon. The Bearcats won the three sets by scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 25-21.
// NOTES
• The Bearcats are now 4-10 on the season while the Knights dropped to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in conference
• UC has not lost a set in its first two AAC matches
• Three Bearcats reached double digits in digs while two had ten or more kills
• Carly Nolan posted her seventh double-double of the season with a team-high 14 kills and 16 digs
• Jade Tingelhoff also had a double-double with a team-high 35 assists and 12 digs
• Erica Kostelac finished with 11 kills
• Nolan and Maya Eller both had two aces each
• Jasmine Jones had a .467 attack percentage in the match with eight kills
• Abby Williams also had 12 digs
// WHAT COACH WHITE SAID
• “This win was definitely for our head coach. I think how she has prepared us for these first two conference matches and how she prepared us in the preseason, now we can see the success of that.”
• “We had everyone contribute. There are times when people are hot and other players aren’t. Today and Friday night, we had six people contribute on the hitting numbers. I think the other thing is, we have gained some mental toughness. They have followed the game plan for a long period of time, and that helps us win all three sets.”
• “I promised our team after this match that we would absolutely pack the gym on Friday, because they haven’t played at home in 14 matches. We want our Cincinnati community to see the success they’ve had after facing some adversity in the preseason.”
// WHAT CARLY NOLAN SAID
• “It feels really good to win two on the road, especially both in three. I’m really proud of the team and how we did this weekend.”
• “We played some tough teams in preseason and it really made us better and prepared to play the teams in conference.”
• “I think finally we all found what we needed from one another to make everyone successful on the court.”
• “I think we are super excited to play at home and everyone be able to see us, our friends and family and peers at school. We are really excited to be home for a weekend and show everyone what we have.”
// SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: UC, 25-22
• The Knights earned the first two points of the set, but an Abby Williams ace tied it at two. Three straight kills by three different Bearcats put UC ahead 5-3. UCF came back and tied the game at eight and then took a one-point lead after an ace. A Carly Nolan kill tied things back up at nine. The teams continued to go back-and-forth until UCF went up by two, 16-14, causing UC to call the first timeout of the day. The Bearcats answered with kills by Jasmine Jones and Nolan to tie the set once again, this time at 16 all. Down two again, Nolan had a kill and ace to make it an 18-18 set. UC was able to get ahead 19-18 and then went up by two after a Kostelac kill and a UCF attack error. UCF called a timeout with UC leading 21-19. As Maya Eller was ready to serve with her team leading 24-22, the Knights called a timeout. Out of the break, a block by Jasmine Jones and Jade Tingelhoff clinched the win.
Set 2: UC, 25-18
• Jones earned the first point of the second set as the Bearcats continued to lead the Knights. Kostelac and Muldrow had a big block to make it a 5-1 set. The Knights got two points back, but a kill from Muldrow kept it a four-point Bearcats lead. That lead grew to six on a kill by Jones. The Bearcats continued to roll, following up a UCF timeout with a Tingelhoff ace and block by Jones and Nolan, putting the score at 13-6. The Knights then went a 3-0 run, resulting in the Bearcats calling a timeout. UC grabbed its largest lead of the day as they went up by seven, 17-10, after a UCF error. With the crowd growing loud on a long volley, UC did not lose focus, going up 23-16 on a kill by Jones. A Nolan kill sealed the set two win.
Set 3: UC, 25-21
• The third set began with a Nolan ace. After that, the Knights would take the next four points. UCF’s lead grew to 8-3 until Kostelac came up with a kill and Ogle followed with an ace. That run continued ad allowed UC to take a two-point lead, 10-8. After the Knights tied the game at ten, Muldrow broke that with a kill. The Bearcats went on a nice run later on to go up 15-11. Nolan and Jones teamed up for back-to-back blocks before Maya Eller served up back-to-back aces. UCF then rallied, bringing the lead to within one and then tying the set at 18. A Kostelac kill kept the Bearcats in front. From there, UC did not look back, closing out the set and match victories with a kill by Nolan.
// NEXT MATCH
The Bearcats return home for their 2017 home opener. UC will host Tulsa on Friday, September 29 at 7 p.m. at St. Ursula Academy. They then host SMU on Sunday, October 1 at 1 p.m.
Courtesy: UCF Athletics
Redshirt senior Kia Bright needed just four digs on Sunday to make history for the second time this season, as the Starke, Fla., native became the 11th player in school history to record 1,000 in a career.
Despite the fanfare of the milestone, the UCF volleyball team dropped its American Athletic Conference opening weekend finale on Sunday to Cincinnati 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-21), snapping a five-match winning streak.
The Knights (8-6, 1-1) had leads in the first and third sets, but could not hold off surges from the Bearcats (4-10, 2-0).
Bright recorded her ninth double-double of the season and fourth in a row with a 12-kill, 11-dig performance. Kristina Fisher hit .259 for the match with nine kills on 27 swings and two errors.
The first set was tightly contested. Neither side managed to take more than a two-point lead through 19-19. UC benefited from a pair of UCF errors to take the opener. The offense for both clubs was impressive. The Knights hit .244 compared to a .280 clip at the net for the Bearcats, including 20 kills.
Cincinnati jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second, before the Knights could respond. Bright notched four of the Knights’ seven kills in the frame, but the Black and Gold could not pull within less than four.
Coming out of the break, the Knights jumped out to an 8-4 lead, before the Bearcats went on an 11-3 run. Fisher and Bright kept the hosts within reach, tying the game at 19-19, but UC scored the next four points to seal the match.
1,000-1,000 CLUB FOR KIA
• With her fourth dig on Sunday, Bright became the fifth player in program history to join the 1,000-dig, 1,000-kill club.
• The redshirt senior is the first player since Erin Campbell in 2009 to join the elite group.
• Bright ranks 11th in digs and kills in the program record book.
DAGENAIS DIALOGUE
Head coach Todd Dagenais after the match.
On the match…
“I thought we held them in check offensively, with the exception of the first set. We forced them to have 20 kills to beat us in the opening set. After that, we held them to .200 and .172. If you tell me that, I’d tell you we’re winning that match in four. The difference was that they brought the energy, which translated to the hustle plays and making things happen. For whatever reason, we weren’t able to match that magic that they found on their side.”
On the surge by Cincinnati in the third…
“The turning point was that Jeanne was serving, and they hit a ball off of her. It was the first time Jeanne Westney has served in her career. She didn’t make the play on a cross court shot. It went four straight hitting errors. All of the sudden its 8-6 and they’re right back in it. I thought we were on the verge of popping their balloon. Some of those errors crept on us. It had to be a low error game to beat Cincinnati and we didn’t do it.”
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