TicketsUC Spikers Drop Finale To Western Michigan
DuPont has double-double with 24 kills and 23 digs.
Contact: Shawn Sell
11/29/2003
Julie DuPont led UC with 24 kills and 23 digs in a Saturday loss to Western Michigan. |
LOUISVILLE, Ky.---A 19-6 deficit in blocks and a team .141 hitting effort proved too much to overcome as the University of Cincinnati volleyball team dropped it?s final regular season contest of the year, a four-game decision to Western Michigan on Saturday at the Conference USA/MAC Challenge.
UC falls to 27-5 on the year, dropping the contest by scores of 28-30, 30-26, 13-30, 28-30. Julie DuPont led the Bearcats with 24 kills and a career-high 23 digs, but was limited to .141 hitting. Rachel Torblaa added 12 kills, while Myanna Hellsten had 11.
Western Michigan (17-14) hit just .226 for the match, but still placed four players in double-figure kills. Carman Malone had 16, Shaylen Jackson 15, and Kristy Ramsey and Tinesha Tierney 11 each.
Laura Lauder had a double-double with 51 assists and 11 digs, while Lindsey Garrison (17) and Noel Olson (10) also reached double-digits in the dig department.
?Western Michigan is a very athletic team and blocking was the difference,? said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. ?They were quick and controlled the ball better than us today. We battled but obviously we came up short.?
UC led the early stages of game one, but was never able to shake a stubborn Western Michigan squad. The score was tied on numerous occasions but after a Torblaa kill gave the Bearcats a 16-15 lead, the Broncos called their first timeout of the frame. The stoppage in play worked as WMU rattled off two straight points to take their first lead of the match.
The Broncos drew out to a three-point edge at 22-19, before the Bearcats came steaming back. Two Lauder service aces sandwiched between a pair of DuPont kills allowed UC to reassume the lead and force the second Western Michigan timeout of game one.
The teams traded the lead back and forth until four straight Bronco points gave WMU a 29-27 advantage and its first game point. The Broncos were especially stout on the blocks during the run as Jessica Holly and Shaylen Jackson registered back-to-back blocks. UC got to within one on a Maddie Barron kill, but a service error ended the first frame in WMU?s favor.
WMU held a marginal statistical advantage in game one, hitting at a .234 clip to .172 for the Bearcats. The Broncos also had a 4-0 edge in blocks and a 29-28 margin in digs. Torblaa led UC with six kills, while DuPont added five. Malone led all players in game one with seven kills.
The Bearcats fell behind early in game two and trailed 10-8, before roaring to life. UC ripped off an 11-2 run to take a 19-12 advantage. DuPont and Hellsten both came up big during the spurt with four and three kills, respectively.
Western Michigan answered the run though with seven of the next eight points to knot the score at 20. UC responded again, getting kills by Newell, DuPont and Barron to take a three-point lead and forced the Broncos into their second timeout. The stop in play again squelched the Bearcats? momentum as they rattled off three straight to retie the game.
After the teams battled to 25-all, UC closed out the game with a 5-1 run that gave them a 30-26 win. The Bearcats improved to .220 hitting in game two, while limiting WMU to .167. DuPont had nine kills in the game, while Hellsten added six. Shaylen Jackson led the Broncos with five game two kills.
The Broncos dominated the third game, leading early on and continuing to build their cushion. Leading 9-5, WMU went on a 6-1 run that opened a nine-point lead. Western Michigan didn?t let up from there, as they scored 15 of the last 23 points to take a commanding 30-13 game three victory.
UC hit a paltry -.147 in game three, committing 11 errors, including six Bronco blocks. Western Michigan hit .345 for the frame, behind four kills each by Tierney and Shaylen Jackson. DuPont led all players with five kills in the frame, all but one of the Bearcats? six for the frame, but was limited to .000 hitting.
The Bearcats fell behind early in game four, but came back to make a game of it by the conclusion. UC never led in the game and fell behind by as much as five at 18-13. After Sunahara called a timeout, the Bearcats got back within a point on two separate occasions, but were never able to take command.
Faced with match point at 29-26, the Bearcats stayed alive with a Torblaa kill and a Bronco error, but UC?s 11th service error of the match sealed UC?s fate.
The Bearcats will now await their NCAA tournament fate, to be announced tomorrow. The selection show will be broadcast live on ESPNEWS at 8 p.m. ET.