TicketsBearcats Survive Marquette Test
DuPont leads victory with 28 kills
Contact: Shawn Sell
10/3/2003
Julie DuPont's 28 kills led Cincinnati to a four-game win over Marquette. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Julie DuPont matched the her own Conference USA season-high with 28 kills as the Cincinnati Bearcats opened league play with a hard fought four-game win over visiting Marquette on Friday night at Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center. The game was tightly contested throughout, featuring 40 ties and 16 lead changes over the four games.
The Bearcats ran out to a two game lead with 30-25, 30-23 wins, before the Golden Eagles charged back to win game three (30-25) and nearly took game four as well. UC improves to 14-2 on the year, while Marquette falls to 3-11 in the first league contest of the year for both teams. Maria Pongonis added a career-best 20 kills and matched her career-high with 13 digs. Leslie Newell also reached double figures with 14 kills on a match-high .400 hitting. Theresa Coughlin led the visitors with 22 kills.
?Marquette is a good team, definitely better than the record that they have,? said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. ?I think the layoff (10 days) was really bad for us. We didn?t control the match at all and our ball handling was pretty sloppy. But it?s a win that they we will take.?
Down two games to one, Marquette refused to stay down during the deciding frame, leading for much of game four. Trailing 26-24 late in the frame, the Bearcats were able to score back-to-back points to force a Marquette timeout. The squads traded points until consecutive kills by Newell and Pongonis gave UC its first match point at 29-28.
The Bearcats weren?t able to close out the win right away, though, as five ties ensued, leaving the stunned crowd in an uproar. Both teams had multiple chances to take the game victory until the score was knotted at 34. From there, DuPont showed the dominance that she has displayed on so many instances this year. The junior outside hitter ripped back-to-back kills that closed out the Bearcats? 36-34 triumph.
At the outset of the evening?s match, UC showed signs of rust after a 10-day layoff. The Golden Eagles took an early 3-1 edge, before Cincinnati came to life. A kill by Newell put the Bearcats ahead to stay at 6-5, despite Marquette coming back to tie the score at 11.
From there, the Bearcats never again trailed in game one, but never led by more than three until Rachel Torblaa?s service ace, UC?s only of the match, opened up a 27-22 margin. The Bearcats got to game point on Myanna Hellsten?s kill at 29-23, but Marquette answered with two straight points. DuPont closed out the game with her ninth kill of the frame, ending at .389 hitting.
The first game was an offensive display on both sides as Cincinnati hit .474 to .366 for Marquette. DuPont led all players with nine kills, while Erin Freer led Marquette with five.
Marquette dominated much of the second game, leading until the Bearcats were finally able to knot the tally at 17. UC then pulled to the lead, but weren?t able to grab more than a one-point advantage until a kill by DuPont pushed the score to 24-22. From there, the Bearcats scored six of the next seven points to close out the win. The Golden Eagles did much of the damage to themselves, as five of UC?s final six points came as a result of Marquette miscues.
After both teams blew up the stat sheets in game one, the exact opposite happened in game two. The Bearcats dipped to just .167 for the stanza, while the Golden Eagles plummeted all the way to .023. DuPont and Pongonis led the way for the Bearcats, with six and five kills, respectively.
Game three featured 11 ties and five lead changes, before Marquette prevailed 30-25. UC led by as much as five at 16-11 on Newell?s kill, but the Eagles blasted back with five straight points to even the score. The Bearcats retook the lead on two separate occasions, before a UC error gave Marquette the lead for good at 20-19.
Cincinnati was able to notch the score at 22, but Marquette used an 8-3 run to close out the frame victory. Coughlin was outstanding in game three, carding eight kills and hitting .800, as Marquette hit .238 for the stanza. The Golden Eagle defense was key to the victory, limiting UC to .128. Marquette was especially effective in containing Pongonis and DuPont, as both players hit .000 for the game.
For the match, the statistics ended very even as UC held an advantage of just .255 to .205 hitting. The Bearcats held slim edges in kills (75-71) and digs (77-72), but were beaten on the blocks by a 12 to 11 count.
The Bearcats must now make a quick recovery from the grueling battle to prepare for their second C-USA match of the weekend on Sunday. DePaul will be the foe, coming to Fifth Third Arena for a 2 p.m. contest.