TicketsBearcats Topple Tulane In Four Games
UC puts five players in double figure kills
Contact: Shawn Sell
10/30/2004
Myanna Hellsten had a career-high 14 kills and nine blocks against Tulane. |
NEW ORLEANS, La.---For the second night in a row, Cincinnati put five players in double figure kills as the Bearcats picked up a four-game road win over Tulane on Saturday night in Fogelman Arena. UC won by scores of 30-19, 30-20, 26-30, 30-26 to improve to 18-8 overall and 8-2 in Conference USA play.
Rachel Torblaa led all players with 16 kills, while Julie DuPont had 15. Maria Pongonis and Myanna Hellsten each added 14, with Leslie Newell rounding out the list with 10 kills. Hellsten?s total represented a new career-best for the 2003 C-USA Freshman of the Year, as did her four aces and three solo blocks.
The Bearcats got the night off to a nice start as they jumped to a 7-1 lead in game one and forced a Tulane timeout with the score 11-3. UC still held a comfortable lead at 19-11, when the Bearcats blew the game open with a 7-0 run that made it a 15-point advantage. Hellsten with a pair of aces and Newell with two kills and a block sparked UC?s run. With Cincinnati just two points from taking game one, Tulane went on a mini-run, scoring six of the next seven to climb within 10. But a Green Wave ball handling error sealed the 30-19 game one triumph for the Bearcats.
The second game saw the Bearcats hit a sparkling .514, but Tulane managed to keep the game close throughout. UC led by just one when the Green Wave?s Iman Houston put down a kill to make it 20-19. But four kills by DuPont and one by Hellsten quickly pushed the Bearcat advantage back to six. After a kill by Anastasia Kenon, UC ripped off the last five points of the game to earn the 30-20 victory.
With a chance to end the match in just three games, the Bearcats hit just .163 for game three to allow Tulane to take the 30-26 win. The stanza was a sew-saw battle throughout, but saw the Wave draw ahead for good at 22-20 on a kill by Lindsey Norman and a block by Deva Fowler and Brittany Esser. Coming out of a timeout down 25-22, UC got back within a point on back-to-back kills by Pongonis and DuPont. But Tulane again responded, scoring four straight, the last two on blocks to set up game point. UC tried one last comeback on a block by DuPont and Torblaa and an ace by the latter, but Kenon ended game three with a kill.
UC started out game four with a 4-1 lead, but quickly found itself down four at 12-8. Tulane continued to lead, building a cushion of as much as five at 19-14. After a Bearcat stoppage, the visitors got back within a pair on a Hellsten kill, a Tulane error and a Hellsten-Newell block. The Bearcats weren?t able to regain the lead, however, until a 3-0 spurt pushed them up 24-23. Tulane retied it with a block, but three more Bearcat points pushed UC into a 27-24 lead. Up 28-26, the Bearcats brought a close to the match on a kill by Newell and Hellsten?s fourth ace of the night.
For Tulane, who falls to 13-7 overall and 4-5 in C-USA, three players reached double figure kills, led by Kenon and Norman with 15 each. Fowler added 11, along with eight blocks, while libero Kelli Dickson led all players with 16 digs. Norman and Kenon each posted double-doubles, with 12 and 11 digs, respectively.
The Bearcat defense was paced by Hellsten?s match-high nine blocks, along with seven by Torblaa and five each by DuPont and Newell. DuPont recoded yet another double-double with 13 digs, as did Pongonis who added 10. Libero Natalie Dossman reached double figures for the 18th time this year with 12 digs.
Cincinnati will be back in action at home next weekend, hosting a pair of C-USA rivals. The Battle of the Newell Sisters Round 2 kicks off the weekend on Friday, as UC hosts Lisa Newell and her Charlotte teammates on Friday (Nov. 5). East Carolina will be the opponent on Saturday night in Fifth Third Arena. Both matches are slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.