Mountaineers End Road Swing at Cincinnati on Sunday - West Virginia University Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team (11-9, 4-6 Big 12) travels to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats at Fifth Third Arena on Sunday, Nov. 1. First serve is set for 1 p.m. ET.

The Mountaineers are coming off a three-set loss to Iowa State on Friday night in Ames, Iowa.

WVU defeated Cincinnati (10-9, 3-6 Big 12) on Friday, Oct. 16, inside Hope Coliseum. The match ended with set scores of 25-21, 25-14, 27-29 and 25-19. In the match, the Mountaineers recorded a then-season-high .366 hitting percentage.

Heading into the weekend, West Virginia ranked No. 3 in the Big 12 in team assists and No. 4 in team kills. The Mountaineers also ranked No. 5 in the league in service aces, led by freshman setter Lauren Duncan, who has recorded 28 on the season.

Senior outside hitter Nina Horning leads the Mountaineers with 279 kills, which ranked No. 12 in the Big 12. Senior setter Alexis Finnvold paces WVU with 544 assists this season, while Duncan has added 288.

Defensively, WVU ranked No. 6 in the Big 12 in total blocks and team digs. Freshman defensive specialist/libero Reagan Turk leads the Mountaineers with 303 digs on a .947 receiving percentage, while senior middle blocker Maddy McGath ranked No. 7 in the conference with a team-leading 81 blocks.

Turk ranked No. 2 in the league in total digs and No. 6 nationally among Power Four freshmen.

Cincinnati played at Colorado on Friday night and fell in five sets. After going back and forth through the first four sets, the Buffaloes held on for a 15-12 win in the deciding fifth set.

The Bearcats' .255 hitting percentage ranked No. 38 nationally and No. 6 in the Big 12 this week. From the service line, Cincinnati averages 1.76 aces per set, which ranked No. 58 nationally and No. 2 in the conference.

The Cincinnati offense runs through senior outside hitter Sydney Nolan, who leads the team with 4.45 kills per set. She ranked No. 16 nationally and No. 3 in the Big 12 in that category. Junior setter Kate Lijic ranked No. 70 nationally in assists per set, averaging 9.64.

Defensively, the Bearcats ranked No. 4 in the Big 12 in digs per set, averaging 13.93. Freshman libero Viktoria Ninova leads the team with 3.76 digs per set. Fifth-year middle blocker Ligia Williams has recorded four or more blocks in six matches this season and leads the team with 47 total blocks.

The match marks the 22^nd all-time meeting between West Virginia and Cincinnati. The Bearcats lead the series, 17-4. WVU head coach Jen Greeny earned her first victory over Cincinnati in the last meeting, moving her record to 1-4 against the Bearcats.

Cincinnati head coach Danijela Tomic is in her second season at the helm, having compiled a 25-22 record and a 2-1 record against Greeny. In 22 seasons as a head coach, Tomic holds a 419-244 record.

Chase Younts, Stephanie Niemer and Melissa Luckey have the call for Sunday's match on ESPN+. Live stats will be available on WVUsports.com.

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUVolleyball on Facebook, Instagram and X.

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Duncan

Alexis Finnvold

Nina Horning

Maddy McGath

Reagan Turk

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