TicketsNo. 25 Bearcats Survive Scare At Charlotte
DuPont, Torblaa each register 16 kills
Contact: Shawn Sell
10/17/2003
Laura Lauder had 49 assists and a career-high 21 digs in Friday's win at Charlotte. |
CHARLOTTE, N.C.---The numbers weren?t pretty, but they proved good enough as the 25th-ranked University of Cincinnati volleyball team survived a tough four-game match with Charlotte on Friday night in Conference USA action.
The Bearcats hit a season-low .188 for the match, but limited the 49ers to just .161 for the evening in winning a 30-23, 29-31, 30-22, 30-25 contest. The win improves UC to 18-2 overall with a 4-0 league mark. Charlotte falls to 6-17 overall and 0-5 in C-USA.
Julie DuPont and Rachel Torblaa led the winning Bearcats with 16 kills each. Setter Laura Lauder was solid as usual, carding 49 assists and adding a career-high 21 digs. Jessica Kelly led all players with 18 kills for the home team, while Chanda Waller added 13. Charlotte?s Lisa Newell won the battle of the Newell sisters, registering 16 kills and seven blocks, to Leslie?s 13 kills and two blocks. Lindsey Garrison added 17 digs for the Bearcat defense, while DuPont tacked on 13. The 49ers? Danielle Miller led all players with 22 digs, while setter Molly McDonald registered 54 assists.
?Charlotte made some good adjustments and they were ready for us,? said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. ?Our offense wasn?t very good tonight, but when it was crunch time, we came through and did a good job at the end.?
The evening?s opening game was a statistical nightmare for both squads, as UC pulled out a 30-23 victory, despite a meager .191 to .082 advantage in hitting. The score was knotted early at three, before the Bearcats opened up some breathing room with a 5-0 run to take an 8-3 edge. Hellsten highlighted the early span with a pair of kills.
After the visitors had built a 13-6 lead, Charlotte came bouncing back with five consecutive points that drew the 49ers to within two at 13-11. From there, the Bearcat lead hovered between two and five as they tried to close out an opening game triumph. Leading 26-22, the Bearcats rode a pair of DuPont kills to a 4-1 spurt that closed out game one.
In the first frame, DuPont led all players with four kills. Balance was the name of the game for the rest of the UC offense as Maria Pongonis, Myanna Hellsten and Leslie Newell each added three kills. Charlotte?s trio of Kelly, Millicent Martin and Lisa Newell led their team in game one with three kills each.
Game two was a sew saw battle, with each team taking turns making runs and answering the oppositions spurts. The stanza was close early and was tied at 11, before UC went on the first of the game?s runs. Behind two DuPont kills, the Bearcats scored eight of the next 10 points to open up a six-point lead. Charlotte quickly countered with a run of its own, one of the 7-2 variety to get back with one.
The two squads battled to a 26 all deadlock, setting the stage for a dramatic conclusion to the 49ers? 31-29 win. McDonald and Lisa Newell registered a block to put Charlotte up one, before the Bearcats answered with consecutive points to reclaim the lead. Lisa Newell then single handedly put the 49ers back in front with a kill and a block to set up their first game point. UC was able to fend off the game point, though, on a Pongonis kill to retie it. But Charlotte proved too much, as back-to-back kills by Waller and Newell put a lid on the 49er win.
The game two stat sheet showed the nightmare continuing for the Bearcats as they registered another sub-.200 performance at .184. Charlotte heated up behind seven kills from Newell, six from Kelly and four by Martin to hit .340 for the segment. Leslie Newell added five kills to her total in game two for Cincinnati, while DuPont tacked on four.
The break seemed to be just what the Bearcats needed as they scored a convincing 30-22 victory in game three. The score was tied early at three all, but UC never trailed, opening up its lead to as much as eight at 26-18. Charlotte refused to roll over, though, as they scored four consecutive points to cut the deficit to 26-22. But Cincinnati benefited from a pair of 49er errors, a Pongonis service ace and a kill by DuPont to close out the victory.
The Bearcats? hitting troubles continued in game three, as they came in at just a .186 clip. The percentages were nearly a mirror image of game one, however, as despite the poor hitting, the UC defense was sound, holding Charlotte to an .075 performance. Torblaa led all players in the frame, tallying seven kills, just one better than the 49ers? Kelly with six.
Game four was another hitting struggle for Cincinnati as they came in at .191, but never trailed, as they limited Charlotte to .140. After the Bearcats ran to an early lead, the 49ers came back to tie the score on three occasions at seven, 14 and 15, before UC went ahead to stay with a 4-0 run.
The Bearcats went on to push their lead to as high as five, but Charlotte again proved resilient, cutting the lead to 25-24. Three DuPont kills, however, highlighted a 5-1 Bearcat run that sealed the match victory.
Cincinnati has little time to prepare for its next contest, as they travel to East Carolina tomorrow night for a 7 p.m. contest.