BOX SCORE
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Morehead State volleyball put a scare into Big 12 opponent Cincinnati Thursday night, taking the first set 33-31, but the host Bearcats adjusted and finally ended up with a 3-1 defeat over the Eagles at Fifth Third Arena.
The Eagles (4-6) secured the marathon first set after leading 24-19, but saw UC rally to send it to extra points. A kill by junior
M.E. Hargan and a service ace by graduate
Brenna Bommer sealed the win 33-31. MSU led set two 20-19 but could not close it. The third set featured a back-and-forth battle as MSU only trailed 20-19, but then UC rattled off the final five points to win 25-19. UC controlled the final set, ending it on a 25-17 count.
"Tonight was a fun match, in front of a lot of Eagle fans," said head coach
Kyrsten Becker-McBride. "It's always great when you see blue all over an arena, and the team battled. We created opportunities, and the next step is capitalizing on more of them. We are excited to get the home-court advantage and play Cincinnati again on Saturday!"
Senior
Irene Wogenstahl piled up a team-high 13 kills and established a season-high with seven blocks. She now has 362 career total blocks. Wogenstahl also hit a team-best .281.
Senior
Maycie Welborn (11 kills) and Hargan (10 kills) also contributed to the offensive effort that totaled 51 kills. Another bright spot for MSU was its season-high block total. MSU rejected 13 Bearcat attempts, bettering the 12 blocks it put up against Radford.
The back row duo of senior
Peighton Isley (17) and sophomore
Courtney Fitzgerald (12) totaled 29 of the Eagles' 70 digs. Fitzgerald's dig count was a season high.
But, the Eagles had trouble containing Cincinnati's outside hitter, Carly Glendinning, who pounded in a career-high 24 kills on a .310 hitting night.
MSU nailed 17 kills woith only two errors after set one, but UC's defense clamped down to hold the visitors to 34 kills and 19 errors in the final three frames.
The teams will be very familiar with each other come Saturday as Cincinnati visits the Eagles for a 2 p.m. ET first serve at Johnson Arena.
Â
