TicketsBalanced Bearcats Sweep Southern Miss
Hellsten, Pongonis, Torblaa all reach double figure kills
Contact: Shawn Sell
10/24/2003
Myanna Hellsten matched her career-high with 12 kills vs. Southern Miss. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Behind a balanced offensive attack, the University of Cincinnati volleyball team ran its win streak to eight in a row with a three-game sweep of Southern Miss on Friday night. With Louisville?s win over Tulane, the Bearcats are now in sole possession of first place in the always-competitive Conference USA race.
With the win, UC improves to 20-2 on the year, with a perfect 6-0 C-USA slate. The win also guaranteed the Bearcats their ninth 20-plus win season in a row and their 21st overall. Southern Miss falls to 21-4 and 6-1 in C-USA and is now tied with Louisville and Tulane for second in the league race. Memphis also entered the evening with one conference loss, but has not yet completed a road match at Marquette this evening.
?Every time we play, especially in the conference, we have to step up,? said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. ?Our middles were great tonight and really set the tone for the match. I thought Rachel and Myanna really stepped up and helped us win the match.?
The night proved to be one of milestones for a pair of Bearcats. Freshman Myanna Hellsten matched a career-high and led Cincinnati with 12 kills on the evening. The match also saw the end of a magnificent run for Julie DuPont as her streak of consecutive matches with double figure kills came to an end at 43, as she notched just nine kills on the night. Rachel Torblaa and Maria Pongonis added 11 kills for the Bearcat offense, while Laura Lauder handed out 38 assists.
From the looks of game one, it appeared that Cincinnati was going to roll through the entire match, as they blistered the Lady Eagles for a 30-15 win. Numbers were not deceiving as the Bearcats outhit Southern Miss by a .696 to .107 margin.
Cincinnati jumped to an early lead, but were leading by just two at 8-6. The home team then blew the frame open with an 8-1 run that pushed the advantage to nine. The Bearcats continued to pull away as Torblaa and Hellsten each notched three kills during the balance of the game as the UC lead ballooned to as much as 15 at the conclusion.
The second game was a hitting disaster for both teams, as Cincinnati mustered just a .163 effort to an even lower .038 mark for Southern Miss. Eight times the game was tied, with another seven lead changes in the books. After trailing early, the Bearcats finally went ahead to stay at 12-11. The UC advantage swayed between two and four until the hosts ripped off three consecutive points to go ahead 24-19. Southern Miss responded with two straight points, but the Bearcats then tallied five of the final seven points of the game to close out the 30-23 win.
The final game was more of the same as the Lady Eagles jumped ahead early then saw their lead evaporate as Cincinnati came roaring back. Southern Miss led by a 4-1 count and continued to hold the edge until 8-6. The Bearcats then suddenly roared to life, scoring six straight points to take a four-point edge. Cincinnati continued to command the frame behind the steady play of Pongonis who scored five of her 11 kills during the game. The Bearcat defense continued to get it done, limiting Southern Miss to .087 in the game.
For the match, Cincinnati held a deceive .312 to .071 edge in hitting. Lindsey Garrison led the Bearcat defense with 17 digs, while DuPont chipped in 11. UC also registered 10 total blocks, led by Hellsten and Leslie Newell with five each.
Nicki Tribble led the Southern Miss attack with 12 kills, while Andrea Bush had 10 digs.
The Bearcats return to C-USA action with another crucial contest on Sunday, when Tulane visits for a 2 p.m. contest.