The loss ended a seven-match win streak for the Lady Toppers as they fell to 15-4 on the year. The Bearcats won their seventh straight to improve to 13-4.
WKU limited UC to just eight kills in the opening game, but seven Lady Topper service aces and five Cincinnati aces proved to be the difference. The Bearcats were able to jump out to an early 14-9 lead in the opener, and never trailed the rest of the way. In fact, WKU got no closer than three points the rest of the way as Cincinnati pulled way late for an eight-point win in game one.
Both clubs hit better than .300 in game two as the teams battled back and forth in the closest game of the match. In a game that saw 18 ties and six lead changes, the Lady Toppers were able to pull out to an early 10-6 lead thanks to an Aquila Orr kill, only to have UC came right back with a 4-0 run to tie the game. The two teams traded points down the stretch until another kill from Orr gave WKU a 26-24 lead late in the game. A WKU error followed by a Jenny Custer kill pulled the Bearcats back even before they regained the lead when a Jessie Nevitt kill gave them a 28-27 lead. A kill from Brittany Bowen brought the Lady Toppers back even at 28-28, but Cincinnati scored the final two points to win 30-28 and take a two-game lead in the match.
The Bearcats carried that momentum into game three as WKU never led and posted just 10 kills in the contest. Cincinnati hit .300, while the Lady Toppers finished at just .091 as the Bearcats were able to pull away and close out the match with a 30-16 win.
Megan Argabright led the Lady Toppers with 10 kills, while Jessica Elley posted a match-high 12 kills and hit .407 for Cincinnati. Orr finished with nine kills and led WKU with a match-best .412 hitting percentage. Defensively, Kelly Hofmeyer recorded a match-high 15 digs for the Lady Toppers.
WKU returns to Sun Belt Conference action this weekend, hosting Arkansas State at 7 p.m. (CDT) on Friday (Oct. 5) before finishing the weekend with a 2 p.m. match against UALR on Saturday.
