TicketsBearcats Push Win Streak To Nine
UC takes four-game road battle from Houston
Contact: Shawn Sell
10/15/2004
Rachel Torblaa had 12 kills and a season-high nine blocks in Friday's win over Houston. |
HOUSTON, Texas---Cincinnati put four players in double figure kills and blocked 13.5 balls, as the Bearcats ran their winning streak to nine with a four-game win over Houston in Conference USA volleyball action on Friday night. The win avenged a crushing C-USA Tournament defeat to the Cougars that UC suffered last season. The Bearcats are now 14-6 overall and 5-0 in league play with the 30-21, 30-20, 26-30, 30-21 victory.
Julie DuPont led the way for the Bearcats as she tallied a match-high 17 kills to run her streak of matches with at least 10 kills to 29. Rachel Torblaa had one of her best performances of the season, registering 12 kills on .348 hitting, while adding a season-best nine blocks. Maria Pongonis (12) and Leslie Newell (10) also reached double figures, with the latter hitting .316 and adding five blocks.
In addition to the blocks, freshman Natalie Dossman recorded a match-high 15 digs for the Bearcats. UC also held Houston?s super sophomore Kelly McAnelly to -.100 hitting, while limiting the Cougars to .056 hitting for the contest. It marked the third straight match in which UC?s opponent hit under .100. Houston falls to 4-13 on the year with the defeat, but still holds a 3-2 C-USA mark.
?I thought we had a let down in game three that we can?t allow to happen,? said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. ?But then we started to play better. The fourth game could have gone either way, though. I thought we blocked pretty well tonight and when you hold a team to .056 hitting, your chances of winning are pretty good.?
The Bearcats started a bit slow in game one, falling behind by a 7-5 score. But three quick kills by Torblaa put UC back ahead. The match was deadlocked at 12 when UC broke things open with a convincing 9-1 run that culminated with a block by Pongonis, Torblaa and Newell. Houston responded with five of the next six points to get back within four, but the Bearcats ultimately pulled away down the stretch. Behind two kills and a block by DuPont and a Pongonis kill and ace, the Bearcats scored seven of the last 10 points of game one to close out the victory. UC started the night hot both offensively and defensively as they hit .400 in game one while limiting Houston to .114.
Cincinnati led for all but two early ties in game two as they held Houston to -.029 hitting in winning 30-20. With the score tied at two early, the visiting Bearcats went on a 7-0 run that featured three straight blocks to take a 9-2 advantage. Houston tried to stay close, but the Bearcats rode five kills by Torblaa and four by Pongonis to extend their advantage. UC?s cushion reached its highest point at 11 on two separate occasions and ended when Pongonis slammed home a kill to put Cincinnati up two games to none.
Houston controlled much of game three, but had to fight off a late charge by the Bearcats that drew them within a point on three different occasions. The Cougars led by a 24-19 margin that forced a Bearcat timeout. Coming out of the break, UC scored four straight to get within 24-23. The Bearcats were within one again at 26-25 on a DuPont kill, but two kills by Loure Dews highlighted a Houston surge that covered four of the last five points to hand the home team game three. Houston hit just .161 in the frame, but UC could not overcome its .024 hitting performance in the frame.
Game four was closely contested, but the lead belonged to the Bearcats after a 5-1 run snapped an eight-all tie. UC continued to control the game, building its lead to 27-19 on DuPont?s kill. Houston countered with a kill, but back-to-back kills by Myanna Hellsten and DuPont set up game point. The Cougars fought it off temporarily with a kill by Kariny Ritter, but DuPont?s 17th kill of the night ended the match in UC?s favor.
Despite the low hitting, McAnelly paced the Cougars with 14 kills. Becca Sartori and Ritter each added 10 for Houston. Jaci Gonzalez led the defense with a team-best 13 digs and Dews blocked five balls for the Cougars.
The Bearcats will be right back in action with another key C-USA contest on Saturday evening when they travel to TCU for a 7 p.m. CT contest. The Horned Frogs are 4-1 in league play after dropping a three-game match to Louisville on Friday night.