TicketsBearcats Battle No. 1 Minnesota Tonight
UC out to snap five-match losing streak
Contact: Shawn Sell
9/20/2004
Rachel Torblaa returns to her home state for tonight's battle with No. 1 Minnesota. |
SETTING THE SCENE: The Cincinnati Bearcat volleyball team (5-5) will be out to snap a five-match losing streak, it?s longest in nearly three years when they travel to Minneapolis, Minn. to take on top-ranked Minnesota on Monday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. CT. The match, UC?s fourth in the last four days, will also be the program?s first-ever against a No. 1 ranked opponent and the 27th all-time meeting between the Bearcats and a ranked foe.
NOTES FROM WISCONSIN:
? Cincinnati?s losing streak reached five, the longest the program has experienced since dropping five straight early in the 2001 season. Following that stretch, the 2001 Bearcats won a school record 16 consecutive matches.
? Myanna Hellsten was named to the InnTowner Invitational All-Tournament Team after averaging 2.17 kills and 1.17 blocks per game. It was Hellsten?s second all-tournament honor this season, after being named to the Bearcat Invitational All-Tournament Team.
? By playing in her 150th career game in the Wisconsin match, Hellsten is now eligible for UC?s top-10 career charts and is listed in two categories. Hellsten is eighth with a .284 hitting percentage and is seventh with 1.25 blocks per game.
? Julie DuPont cracked the top-10 in school history in career digs, moving up to ninth with 1,078.
? Rachel Torblaa climbed to seventh on the Cincinnati career total blocks list ending the tournament with 407 blocks.
? DuPont?s 21 kills against Marshall were a season-high for the senior.
? Lindsey Garrison made her first start of the season at libero and finished with 12 digs, the 36th double digit dig effort of her career.
? DuPont inched closer to Becky Tenkman?s mark for career kills with 49 kills during the tournament. She now trails Tenkman?s mark by 122 kills. DuPont is also only 39 kills behind former UAB standout Tonya Larson for sixth on the Conference USA career list.
ABOUT MINNESOTA: The Golden Gophers have climbed to No. 1 in the USA Today/CSTV poll on the strength of a nine-match winning streak that includes wins over three ranked foes. Minnesota?s lone defeat of the season came to then-No. 1 USC and the Gophers also have topped Kansas State and Florida. Over the weekend, UM swept through North Carolina?s tournament, defeating the host Tar Heels, No. 22 Loyola Marymount and Rice. Minnesota?s offense is led by Erin Martin and her 5.26 kills per game. The Gophers utilize a two-setter system that features Lindsay Taatjes (9.77 assists per game) and Kelly Bowman (5.88). On defense, Paula Gentil leads the squad with 6.19 digs per game, while Meredith Nelson has a team-best 0.97 blocks per game. Minnesota is coming off of one of its best seasons ever, finishing with a 26-11 record and advancing all the way to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
COMING HOME: The match at Minnesota will feature a homecoming for Bearcat senior Rachel Torblaa. Torblaa, a graduate of Burnsville High School, is a native of Savage, Minn., just 30 minutes south of Minneapolis.
FACING RANKED FOES: After a battle with No. 22 Loyola Marymount on Sept. 11, UC will face its second ranked opponent of the year on Monday and it will be a big one as the Bearcats travel to top-ranked Minnesota. Since the AVCA instituted its poll in 1982, the Bearcats have faced 26 ranked opponents, winning three times. But UC has found success in recent years, as they have beaten two of the last four ranked teams they?ve played. At No. 1, Minnesota will represent the highest ranked opponent UC has ever faced. The previous highly ranked team was No. 6 Kentucky in 1983 and No. 6 USC in 2001. The Bearcats will also face No. 17 Louisville in the final Conference USA match of the year on Nov. 12.
FINALLY ON THE CHARTS: By playing in her 150th career game in UC?s Sept. 18 match against Wisconsin, sophomore Myanna Hellsten is now eligible for inclusion on the school?s career charts. Already, Hellsten is listed in two categories, ranking seventh in blocks per game (1.25) and eighth in hitting percentage (.284).
HIGH RISER: Maria Pongonis has proven to be an intergral part of UC?s success this season, as she ranks second on the team in kills (3.56) and third in digs (2.74). Against Washington State on Sept. 10, Pongonis recorded a new career-high with 23 kills, three more than her previous high from last season?s Marquette contest. In 10 matches this season, Pongonis has led or tied for the team lead in kills four times, after accomplishing the feat just three times all of last season. Cincinnati?s success has also paralleled Pongonis? as during the team?s five wins, she is averaging 3.73 kills and 3.07 digs per game and hitting .210, but the numbers dip to 3.42 kills and 2.47 digs and a .067 hitting percentage in UC?s five defeats.
STREAKING THE WRONG WAY: The Bearcats? current five-match losing streak is quite a rarity as it is the longest such streak the program has sustained since dropping five in a row in 2001. After that run of bad luck, the Bearcats went on to set a school record with 16 consecutive wins. UC hasn?t lost six straight since 1992 and haven?t lost seven in a row since 1986.
BEARCATS WITH THE ACE: Over the past few seasons, the Bearcats have not been considered one of Conference USA?s top serving teams. Last season, they ranked eighth in the league in aces, but are up to fourth after the Sept. 10-11 tournament at Loyola Marymount. Much of the damage was done in the opening match against Washington State, as the Bearcats established a school record for a four-game match with 17 aces, one better than a 1993 effort against Evansville. Senior Rachel Torblaa led the charge against the Cougars, with a career-high six and she enters the week as the team?s leader this season with 16 aces.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Bearcats? win over Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 7 allowed UC to establish a new consecutive home match winning streak, as they have now won 18 in a row, dating back to 2002. The new streak is one better than the previous best of 17 straight home wins, established from a Sept. 7, 1999 win over Dayton to an Oct. 18, 2000 defeat to Louisville. Since the opening of Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center, the Bearcats have been nothing short of dominant on their home floor. In the 14 years the building has been in existence, the Bearcats have posted a 118-50 (.702) record at home, with exactly half of those losses coming in a three-year span from 1991-93.
REMEMBERING STEPH: The Bearcats will play their 2004 season in honor of assistant coach and former UC star player Stephanie (Meinig) Rosfeld, who passed away unexpectedly during the preseason. UC will honor Stephanie?s number 10, as no player will wear the number this season, while the entire team?s uniforms will bear the initials SAR and the number 10.
SUNAHARA REACHES THE TOP: Cincinnati head coach Reed Sunahara became the program?s all-time winningest coach in the Bearcats? Sept. 10 win over Washington State. Sunahara now has 102 wins in his Cincinnati career, one better than Mike Lingenfelter?s career total. Lingenfelter recorded 101 wins in his five-year career, which covered 1986-87 and 1993-95. Sunahara, now in his fifth year as the Bearcats? mentor, is 121-78 (.608) in his coaching career, with an even more impressive 102-38 (.729) mark at UC.
C-USA COACHES SPEAK: For the third consecutive campaign, the Bearcats have been selected second in the preseason poll of Conference USA coaches. UC, after sharing the Conference USA regular season championship with Louisville, was once again chosen one spot back of the Cardinals. In addition, senior Julie DuPont, the reigning C-USA Player of the Year, was tabbed the league?s preseason player of the year.
OLSON NOW IN CHARGE: In the past couple of weeks, sophomore Noel Olson stepped into the forefront as the team?s primary setter, as the team has moved away from the two-setter attack used earlier this season. Twice this season, Olson has registered a new career-high in assists, including a best of 59 against Miami (Fla.) on Sept. 11. Olson enters the week averaging 10.20 assists per game, while freshman Jenny Custer, who has also seen time at setter has an average of 2.85 assists per game.
DUPONT JOINS ELITE CLUB: As she has so many times during her career, Julie DuPont made history in the Sept. 4 match against Kent State. Against the Golden Flashes, DuPont became just the fifth UC player ever with 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. DuPont, with 1,721 kills and 1,078 digs, joins an exclusive club that includes Sonja Jackson (1,443 kills; 1,135 digs), Dani Peterson (1,040 kills; 1,132 digs), Becky Tenkman (1,843 kills; 1,303 digs) and Trish Ladusaw (1,465 kills; 2,074 digs).
DUPONT WINS C-USA AWARD: For the sixth time in her career, senior Julie DuPont was honored on Sept. 7 as the Conference USA Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Saint Louis? Aida Antanaviciute. In earning MVP honors at the Bearcat Invitational, DuPont averaged 5.22 kills and 3.89 digs per game, while hitting .370. DuPont now shares the top spot with former USF players Paula Araujo and Michelle Collier and Saint Louis? Colleen Hunter in number of career Player of the Week awards.
DUPONT NEARING HISTORY: During her career, senior Julie DuPont has made her mark as one of the top players in program history and she is on the verge of reaching another career milestone. DuPont, who is tops in school history in kills per game with 4.60, ranks second on the kills chart with 1,721, after passing Cathy Guye in the Sept. 10 contest against Washington State. She now has only Becky Tenkman to catch on the UC charts. Tenkman recorded 1,843 kills from 1995-98, only 122 more than DuPont?s current total. DuPont also ranks in the UC annals in attempts (third), digs per game (seventh), digs (ninth) and block assists (ninth).
SISTER, SISTER: Senior Leslie Newell will have a unique opportunity during her final season as a collegiate player, as her and her Bearcat teammates will play contests against both of Newell?s younger sisters. UC will host IUPUI with youngest sister Carol, a freshman, on Sept. 28, before Conference USA rival Charlotte and sibling Lisa, a junior visit on Nov. 5. Leslie Newell has bettered sister Lisa in all three of the sisters? head-to-head match-ups. UC has won each of the last regular season match-ups between the school?s, while also taking a C-USA Tournament quarterfinal win in 2002.
TOURNAMENT HONORS: For the second consecutive season, UC dominated the Bearcat Invitational Sept. 3-4, winning all three matches and posting a perfect 9-0 games record. As she did in 2003, Julie DuPont garnered tournament MVP honors and was joined on the all-tournament squad by a pair of her teammates. Rachel Torblaa repeated as a member of the team and was joined by first time honoree Myanna Hellsten.
MORE OUTSTANDING FRESHMEN: Head Coach Reed Sunahara and his staff have once again assembled another outstanding freshmen class that appears poised to continue the tradition of outstanding freshmen at UC. During the nine years of Conference USA Volleyball, the Bearcats have featured five freshman or co-freshman of the year in the league. Myanna Hellsten continued the run last year, capturing league and region freshman of the year honors, giving UC four recipients of the C-USA award in the last five years. This year?s crop includes promising newcomers Jenny Custer, Natalie Dossman, Erin Maldo, Hannah May and Jessie Nevitt. This season, both Custer and Dossman have moved into key roles in the Bearcat line-up. Custer has played both hitter and setter, averaging 0.82 kills, 1.32 digs and 2.85 assists per game. She also ranks third on the team with 12 service aces. Dossman has registered double digit digs in all but one match this season as the starting libero, averaging 3.88 digs per game including a career-high 18 against Miami (Fla.) on Sept. 11. Maldo has seen limited action, averaging 0.80 kills and 0.40 digs per game, while both May and Nevitt are still awaiting their first game action.
BEARCATS IN C-USA: In the eight years of Conference USA play, the Bearcats have gone 106-26 for an .803 winning percentage, ranking second in both, trailing only Louisville. The Bearcats have now won 70 of their last 83 matches against C-USA opponents. Five of the 13 losses have been to Louisville, while four have come against USF. The marks exclude C-USA Tournament play.
TORBLAA NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT: At the Furama Hotel Invitational hosted by Loyola Marymount University, Rachel Torblaa was the Bearcats? sole representative on the all-tournament team. Torblaa earned the honor after averaging 3.00 kills and 1.00 blocks per game and hitting .379 for the tournament. The all-tournament honor was the second of the season for Torblaa and fourth of her career.
DUPONT JUMPING THE C-USA CHARTS: In addition to her name being written throughout the UC record books, Julie DuPont is also starting to make waves in the Conference USA annals as well. DuPont enters the week ranked seventh in conference history in kills with 1,721. Former UAB standout Tonya Larson ranks sixth with 1,760 on the list. Former USF star Michelle Collier, the only player in C-USA history to be named All-American besides DuPont, is the all-time record holder with 2,729.
TORBLAA CLIMBING THE CHARTS: While she has proven to be a solid and valuable offensive player during her career, senior Rachel Torblaa has made her name at the net with her strong blocking ability. With 10 block assists over the weekend at Wisconsin, Torblaa moved closer to third in school history with 355. Torblaa now has some work to do as Becky Tenkman (393) and Bontia Wise (431) are third and second, respectively. Former UC assistant coach Stephanie Meinig is the program?s all-time leader with 518 block assists. Torblaa also ranks in UC annals in both blocks per game (fifth-1.30) and total blocks (seventh-407).
HELLSTEN EARNS TOURNAMENT NOD: For the second time this season, Myanna Hellsten earned an all-tournament team award, when she was named to the squad at the InnTowner Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin. For the tournament, Hellsten averaged 2.17 kills and 1.17 blocks per game. Hellsten was also honored following the Vernon Manor Bearcat Invitational
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats will wrap up their eight-match road swing when they travel to Indianapolis, Ind. to face Butler on Saturday, Sept. 25. The match will serve as a rematch of a 2003 Bearcat Invitational contest. UC then returns home for round one of the battle of the Newell sisters as Leslie?s sister Carol and her IUPUI teammates visit Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center on Tuesday, Sept. 28.