TicketsBearcats Seeking Win At Butler
UC out to snap six-match losing streak on Saturday
Contact: Shawn Sell
9/24/2004
Natalie Dossman will return to her hometown as UC battles Butler on Saturday afternoon. |
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati volleyball team will be out to snap a six-match losing streak when they return to the court on Saturday, Sept. 25 at Butler. The Bearcats (5-6) will travel to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. to battle the 6-6 Bulldogs at 4 p.m. CT. UC is coming off a defeat to No. 1 Minnesota, while Butler is fresh off a Horizon League-opening win over Wright State on Thursday night.
NOTES FROM MINNESOTA:
? Cincinnati?s losing streak reached six, the longest in program annals since dropping six in a row in 1992.
? Julie DuPont moved into eighth spot on UC?s career digs chart with 1,088. She trails former teammate Rachel Beran by just 18 digs.
? DuPont continued to move closer to Becky Tenkman?s mark for career kills with 12 against Minnesota. She now trails Tenkman?s mark by 110 kills. DuPont is also only 27 kills behind former UAB standout Tonya Larson for sixth on the Conference USA career list.
? Head coach Reed Sunahara coached in the 200th game of his career and 141st at UC.
? The match was played before a crowd of 1,138, the second straight time the team has played in front of more than 1,000 fans. UC hasn?t played in front of more than 1,000 fans twice in a season since 2002, when they did it three times.
? DuPont registered her ninth double-double of the season and 56th of her career with 12 kills and 10 digs.
ABOUT BUTLER: The Bulldogs enter Saturday?s non-conference match-up with a record of 6-6 after a win over Horizon League rival Wright State on Thursday night. Butler won three of its first five contests of the year, before dropping four of seven to even its record. Senior Kali Carter is a stellar all-around player for the Bulldogs, averaging 5.10 kills and 3.67 digs per game. Already this season, Carter reached 32 kills and 30 digs in the same match, while also setting a school record with the kills total. Classmate Areal Bienemy is also a capable offensive player, averaging 4.15 kills per game, along with 1.12 blocks on defense. Libero Megan Knightly is the digs leader at 4.75 per game, while Candice Washington provides 1.24 blocks per game in the middle. Prior to the season, Horizon League coaches choose the Bulldogs to win the conference championship.
LAST TIME AGAINST BUTLER: Four Bearcats reached double figure kills and Laura Lauder set a school record for assists as UC swept Butler in the 2003 Bearcat Invitational. Julie DuPont led the attack with a match-high 20 kills, while Maria Pongonis added 19. Leslie Newell (13) and Rachel Torblaa (11) also reached double digits in the victory. Lauder was also superb, breaking the school mark for assists in a three-game match by handing out 57 and helping UC to a .307 hitting performance for the match.
INDY CONNECTION: A pair of Cincinnati players will be returning to their hometowns for the match at Butler. Junior Lindsey Garrison and freshman Natalie Dossman both hail from Indianapolis, with Garrison a graduate of North Central High School and Dossman coming from Bishop Chetard. This also marks the second straight match a UC player has played in front of a hometown crowd, as Rachel Torblaa returned home for the team?s Sept. 20 match at Minnesota.
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 (3.32) and third in digs (2.62). 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 11 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 3.05 kills and 2.32 digs and a .038 hitting percentage in UC?s six defeats.
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 sixth in the latest C-USA rankings. 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 is the team?s leader this season with 16 aces.
BEFORE A FULL HOUSE: The Bearcats? match-up at Wisconsin on Sept. 18, was played before a full house as 3,044 fans piled into UW?s Fieldhouse. The attendance figure is the fifth-highest of any match in the country this season.
SISTER, SISTER: Senior Leslie Newell will have a unique opportunity during her final season as a collegiate player, as she 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 two regular season match-ups between the schools, while also taking a C-USA Tournament quarterfinal win in 2002.
STREAKING THE WRONG WAY: The Bearcats? current six-match losing streak is quite a rarity as it is the longest such streak the program has sustained since 1992. UC hasn?t lost seven in a row since 1986.
STRUGGLING TO HIT: During UC?s current six-match losing streak, one of the biggest problems has been struggling to hit for a high percentage. During the stretch, UC is hitting just .144 as a team and has been under .100 in each of the last three contests. No Bearcat player is hitting over .228 in the last six matches and the team?s top two offensive threats, Julie DuPont and Maria Pongonis, are hitting just .152 and .038 respectively. The sub-.100 hitting in the last three contests marks the first time since Nov. 17, 2001 that UC has hit under .100 in a match. That event was a Conference USA Tournament loss to DePaul that saw the Bearcats hit just .095.
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 (1.24) and eighth in hitting percentage (.281).
OLSON NOW IN CHARGE: After starting the season in a two-setter alignment, sophomore Noel Olson has stepped into the forefront as the team?s primary setter. Twice this season, Olson has registered a new career-high in assists, including a best of 59 against Miami (Fla.) on Sept. 11. Olson is averaging 10.03 assists per game, while freshman Jenny Custer, who has also seen time at setter has an average of 2.62 assists per game.
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.
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.
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 121-79 (.605) in his coaching career, with an even more impressive 102-39 (.723) mark at UC.
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 1,733 kills and 1,088 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 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 1,733, 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 110 more than DuPont?s current total. DuPont also ranks in the UC annals in attempts (third), digs per game (seventh), digs (eighth) and block assists (ninth).
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.
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.
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.
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 is currently seventh in conference history in kills with 1,733. 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.
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 0.76 kills, 1.27 digs and 2.62 assists per game. She also ranks third on the team with 12 service aces. Dossman has registered double digit digs in all but two matches this season as the starting libero, averaging 3.78 digs per game including a career-high 18 against Miami (Fla.) on Sept. 11. Maldo has seen limited action, averaging 0.75 kills and 0.25 digs per game, while both May and Nevitt are still awaiting their first game action.
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.
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
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 last 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).
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats finally return home after eight straight road contests when IUPUI visits Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center on Tuesday, Sept. 28. The match will feature round one of the battle of the Newell sisters as Leslie?s sister Carol is a freshman on the IUPUI squad. The Bearcats are then slated to open Conference USA play on Oct. 1-2, travelling to Marquette and DePaul.