TicketsBearcats Make History With Win Over Miami (Ohio)
Team, Suanahara reach milestones with win
Contact: Shawn Sell
9/7/2004
Noel Olson had 18 assists in UC's record setting win over Miami (Ohio). |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---On a night where history was made, the Cincinnati Bearcats had to hold off a hard fighting Miami (Ohio) team to pick up a 3-0 win over the RedHawks in college volleyball action on Tuesday night in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center.
A pair of milestones were reached with the victory, including a new mark for consecutive home matches won. UC picked up its 18th straight home win, while also handing head coach Reed Sunahara his 101st win at Cincinnati. The victory moves Sunahara into a tie for the most coaching wins in school history, a spot he now shares with Mike Lingenfelter.
The 30-18, 30-28, 30-24 win improves the Bearcats record to 4-0 on the season, while Miami drops to 1-2. UC now boasts a 12-0 games record this season, having swept all four matches to this point.
Julie DuPont was the only player to reach double digits in kills with 13 and she just missed her fourth straight double double with eight digs. UC?s double setter combo of Jenny Custer and Noel Olson once again did the job, handing out 22 and 18 assists, respectively. Jenna Staun led Miami with nine kills, while Carli Reihman and Tara Buroker each had eight.
?Early on, we were pressuring Miami, but we didn?t do it throughout,? Sunahara stated. ?Miami is a good team and they started playing better as the match wore on. We knew what they were going to do, but we didn?t stop their trends or adjust. It was a hard fought battle throughout.?
The Bearcats sprinted out of the gates, hitting .500 to the RedHawks? .100 in game one and coasting to a 30-18 victory. Miami was able to force a 5-5 tie, but Cincinnati ripped off six straight points to force a timeout by the RedHawks. The visitors got to within 20-14, but Cincinnati scored 10 of the last 14 points down the stretch to close out game one. Maria Pongonis did a big share of the damage towards the end of the game, posting three kills, two aces and one and a half blocks.
The second game was a fierce battle throughout that saw Miami lead early and the Bearcats never hold an advantage of more than four. The Bearcats held what seemed to be a comfortable lead at 26-21 following a Custer-Rachel Torblaa block, but Miami had other plans. The RedHawks went on a 6-1 run, forcing Sunahara to burn two timeouts along the way and tying the score at 27. The teams traded points coming out of the break, but a Miami service error and a DuPont kill wrapped up game two.
The final game was also a spirited fight that featured seven ties and five lead changes and wasn?t decided until a late Bearcat run put the game away. The lead changed hands many times early on, with UC taking an early timeout trailing 12-10. UC still trailed at 18-16, but used a 5-0 run to retake the lead. Miami surged back into the lead with a 6-2 run that made it a 24-23 score. But a ball handling error on the Bearcats that pushed the RedHawks up one would be Miami?s last point, as UC closed out the match with a 7-0 run. Myanna Hellsten had three of her eight kills during the span, while DuPont added two and Olson tacked on a service ace. The Bearcats closed out the match on a Miami error.
Freshman libero Natalie Dossman continued to impress as she reached double figure digs for the fourth straight contest, finishing with 13. Dossman?s counterpart, Suzy Wolford, led all players with 16 digs, while Torblaa had a match-high five blocks.
The Bearcats will now hit the road to open up an eight-match road swing. UC will travel to Los Angeles, Calif. For the Loyola Marymount Furama Hotel Invitational this weekend. Cincinnati is scheduled to face host LMU, along with Miami (Fla.) and Washington State during the tournament.