TicketsSunahara Gets 100th Win As UC Sweeps Brown
DuPont leads Bearcats with 13 kills
Contact: Shawn Sell
9/19/2003
Reed Sunahara picked up his 100th career win in Friday night's sweep of Brown. |
STATE COLLEGE, Pa.---University of Cincinnati head coach Reed Sunahara picked up his 100th career win as the Bearcat volleyball team kept its win streak rolling to 10 with a three-game sweep of Brown on Friday night. The match was the opening contest of the Penn State Classic and improves UC?s record to 11-1 on the year.
Julie DuPont and Leslie Newell led a balanced Cincinnati attack with 13 and 11 kills respectively. The win draws Sunahara?s career record to 100-68 overall, with an 81-28 mark at UC.
?Tonight it was just a win and we?ll take it,? said Sunahara. ?We didn?t really execute well enough to win, but we got the job done. We definitely have to step up and play better tomorrow against Robert Morris and Penn State.?
The Bearcats came storming out in the first game with a tremendous display both offensively and defensively. Riding a .351 hitting percentage and limiting the Bears (0-2) to a -.031 effort, UC rolled to a 30-17 victory. DuPont led the way in the first stanza with four kills, but was followed closely by Laura Lauder, Rachel Torblaa, Newell and Maria Pongonis with three each.
In the second game, DuPont showed the dominance that she has displayed so many times this year, carding six kills and hitting .364 as the Bearcats held on for a 30-26 triumph. Brown improved its hitting to .213 for the frame, with the Bearcats slipping a bit to .263.
The deciding game was a struggle for both teams offensively as the Bearcats hit just .111 to Brown?s .024. Newell was the difference maker this time as she scored five kills and hit .400 as UC won, 30-24.
From a defensive standpoint, both sophomore libero Lindsey Garrison and junior blocker Torblaa came up big. Garrison reached double figure digs for the eighth time this season, registering 14, while Torblaa had a season-best eight blocks. DuPont registered another double-double with 11 digs.
For Brown, Karalyn Kuchenbercker had a team-best 10 kills and 10 digs, while Kim Highlund also tacked on 10 digs.
The Bearcats have little time to rest, as they must prepare for a pair of contests tomorrow. UC will face Robert Morris at 1 p.m., before battling No. 11 Penn State in the nightcap of the tournament at 7:30 p.m.