TicketsBearcats Score Key Win Over WKU
Five UC players reach double figure kills
Contact: Shawn Sell
10/5/2004
Maria Pongonis had 11 kills vs. Western Kentucky. |
BOWLING GREEN, Ky.---Cincinnati put five players in double figure kills as the Bearcats picked up a hard fought four-game win over Western Kentucky on Tuesday night at the E.A. Diddle Arena. The win improves UC?s record to 10-6 on the year and stretches its winning streak to five in a row. The Bearcats also snapped the Lady Toppers eight-match winning streak and dropped WKU to 16-2 on the season.
Julie DuPont had a team-high 14 kills for the Bearcats and is now just five short of matching Becky Tenkman?s school record for career kills. She will get her next shot at the record on Friday when UC hosts UAB.
Rachel Torblaa and Leslie Newell each had 12 kills for the Bearcats, while Myanna Hellsten and Maria Pongonis each had 10. Noel Olson handed out 54 assists for a Bearcat offense that hit .230 for the night.
Game one was a fierce battle throughout and saw the Bearcats overcome a pair of sizable deficits to post the 30-28 win. UC fell behind by seven at 14-7 on a kill by Caron Blotch and trailed again by six at 20-14. But the Bearcats continued to scrap back, finally retying the score at 27 on a block by DuPont and Hellsten. UC followed that with another denial by Hellsten and Olson to take a one-point edge. Following a WKU error, the Bearcats set up game point on a kill by Pongonis. Hellsten and Newell converged at the net for UC?s fifth block of game one to close out the victory. The Bearcats held the slim edge on hitting, by just a .257 to .256 margin. DuPont got her quest for the school record in career kills off to a good start with five in game one. The win by UC also snapped Western?s streak of 17 straight games wins.
Armed with the 1-0 lead, the Bearcats came out firing in game two, scoring the game?s first three points. WKU trailed at the 5-3 mark, but used a 7-3 run to draw a two-point advantage. The match was knotted at 12 following a kill by Wagner when the Bearcats took command of the frame. Three kills by Torblaa highlighted an 8-3 Bearcat spurt that pushed the visitors out to a 21-15 lead. UC continued to apply the pressure down the stretch opening up its 25-20 lead and closing out the 30-21 victory. Cincinnati scored six of the last seven points, giving up only a service error down the stretch. For the game, UC hit a robust .467, while limiting the Lady Toppers to .167. DuPont added five more kills in the frame to give her 10, just nine short of Tenkman?s school record.
Game number three was tight all the way to the end, but saw Western Kentucky lead wire-to-wire. The Lady Toppers jumped to an 11-6 lead that forced Cincinnati?s first timeout, but WKU never could shake the Bearcats. From that point forward, the home team never led by more than four, but UC couldn?t get over the hump. The Bearcats fought to within one point several times down the stretch, the last coming on a Torblaa kill that made it 27-26. But back-to-back kills by Jessie Wagner and a block by Lyndsey Broerman and Crystal Towler closed out game three in Western?s favor. UC struggled to hit just .167 for the frame, while WKU hit at a .275 clip. DuPont added just one kill in the game to bring her total to 11 through three games. Despite the win, Western was dealt a blow as starting setter Blotch left late in the game with an apparent hand injury.
The fourth game was another nail biter to the end. UC led early, before Western came back to take command. The Bearcats opened up what appeared to be a comfortable lead at 28-23 after a Newell kill sandwiched around two by Hellsten. But with its back to the wall, WKU ripped off four straight points to make it a 28-27 contest. Pongonis set up match point with a kill and then the trio of Hellsten, Pongonis and Jenny Custer went high above the net to block a WKU kill attempt to end the contest.
Wagner and Towler paced the Lady Toppers with 17 kills each while Broerman added 10. WKU?s Ashly Miller led all players with 20 digs, while Pongonis had 11 for UC and Natalie Dossman added 10. UC also blocked 15 balls, with Hellsten recording eight and Torblaa five.
The Bearcats will be back in Conference USA action this weekend with a pair of home matches that will be played at St. Ursula Academy. UC hosts UAB on Friday, with USF coming to town on Saturday. Both matches will start at 7:30 p.m.