TicketsBearcats Win Invitational Title
Butler Tops Marshall in Final Session
Contact: Shawn Sell
9/6/2003
Julie DuPont, Bearcat Invitational MVP. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Tournament most valuable player Julie DuPont and all-tournament team member Maria Pongonis each carded 15 kills as the Cincinnati volleyball team closed out the Vernon Manor Bearcat Invitational with a three-game sweep of New Mexico State. With the win, the Bearcats wrapped up the tournament championship, finishing the two-day event perfect in nine games over three matches.
Rachel Torblaa also earned a spot on the all-tournament team and complimented her teammates? kill totals with 13 of her own, while hitting .667. Laura Lauder had a double-double with 49 assists and 12 digs, while DuPont had 14 digs and Lindsey Garrison 10.
UC improved to 6-1 on the season, topping the Aggies by scores of 30-25, 30-20 and 30-27. NMSU falls to 3-2 on the year and were led by Alice Borden and Abby Stines with nine kills each. Trinia Cuseo was the Aggies? lone all-tournament selection.
?This was a good overall team effort,? said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. ?I thought we got better as the tournament went on and really came together as a team. The key was winning when the match got close, which happened in all three. We really stepped up and are making good strides.?
New Mexico State took an early 2-1 lead in game one, but that would be their final lead of the frame. Pongonis got hot right off the bat, tallying seven kills in the Bearcats? first 15 points. After two more Pongonis kills and an Aggie error, UC took its? largest lead of nine at 26-17.
The Bearcats set up game point at 29-21 on a DuPont kill, but it would prove to take awhile before they could close out the victory. A Stines kill and two Cincinnati errors, forced Sunahara to call a timeout. After a NMSU block, DuPont closed out the frame with a kill.
UC scorched the stat sheet in game one, hitting .452 behind Pongonis? nine kills. New Mexico State held close, hitting .279 for the frame.
The second game was all Cincinnati as they charged out to a 6-1 lead, thanks in large part to three kills by freshman Myanna Hellsten. The UC lead remained between two and seven, before a 5-2 Bearcat run pushed the advantage to 10 at 24-14. From there, DuPont got hot registering three kills and a service ace down the stretch. UC closed out game two with kills by Leslie Newell and Pongonis.
The game two stats showed UC cooling off to a still respectable .250 hitting percentage. The defense picked up the slack, though limiting the Aggies to just .082 hitting.
After the break, the two teams traded the lead early on in game three. Torblaa?s kill gave UC the lead for good at 6-5. Leading 17-12, DuPont nailed down three kills to push UC ahead 20-15.
As had been the case in game one, the Bearcats drew to within a point of closing out the game, only to see New Mexico State charge back with a vengeance. Thanks to three Cincinnati errors and a kill by Cuseo, the visitors got to within three, bringing Sunahara off the bench to call a time-out.
Following the brief breather, the Aggies continued to charge, getting an ace by Amanda Olivas. But the comeback was not to be as Pongonis knocked down a kill to end the match.
The Bearcats will wrap up the four-match home stand on Tuesday night, hosting Wright State at 7 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center.
Bearcat Invitational All-Tournament Team
Julie DuPont?Cincinnati (MVP)
Kali Carter?Butler
Candice Washington?Butler
Rachel Torblaa?Cincinnati
Maria Pongonis?Cincinnati
Nicole Michal?Marshall
Trinia Cuseo?New Mexico State
Butler 3, Marshall 0
Kali Carter registered match-highs with 13 kills and 20 digs as Butler outlasted Marshall for a three-game sweep in the final session of the Vernon Manor Bearcat Invitational Saturday night.
The Bulldogs won by scores of 30-27, 30-28, 31-29 to finish the tournament 2-1 and raise their record to 5-2. Marshall dropped to 2-4. Katie Stein recorded 41 assists and 12 digs for the Herd.