TicketsBearcats Swept In C-USA Finale
DuPont records 15 kills in defeat
Contact: Shawn Sell
11/12/2004
Julie DuPont had 15 kills in UC's loss to Louisville. |
LOUISVILLE, Ky.---Cincinnati hung with No. 23 Louisville for much of the night, but in the end the Cardinals proved too much as they handed the Bearcats a three-game loss on Friday night before an overflow sell out crowd of 1,084 at Cardinal Arena. The match was the final regular season Conference USA contest for each team as both are slated to move to the BIG EAST next season.
Louisville, who wrapped up a perfect 13-0 C-USA regular season, improves to 24-2 overall, winning by scores of 30-24, 30-28, 30-27. UC drops to 20-9 overall and 10-3 in league play with the defeat. The Bearcats, who have already wrapped up a bye in next week?s C-USA Tournament, must now await other league results this weekend, before their seeding for the tournament is determined.
Julie DuPont led three Bearcat players in double figure kills with 15, while adding 11 digs. Rachel Torblaa and Maria Pongonis each added 10 for UC.
?I thought the difference tonight was consistency,? said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. ?Louisville is an experienced team and that makes a big difference.?
The Bearcats got off to a slow start, as they fell behind by a 13-4 score early in game one. UC continued to fight throughout the game, but could just never quite get over the hump. Cincinnati got to within five points of the Cards on numerous occasions, but were never able to draw any nearer. Trailing by a 26-19 score, the Bearcats scored four of the next six points to draw within 28-23. But a kill by Ana Yartseva set up game point and following a kill by DuPont, Yartseva and Elena Pilnikova combined on a block to seal the 30-24 win.
In the second game, Louisville didn?t take its first lead until back-to-back kills by Svetlana Dunkle put the Cardinals ahead 11-9. From there, Louisville never trailed again, but they couldn?t shake the Bearcats once more. UC climbed within three a couple of times, the last coming on a Cardinal serving error that made it 27-24. Bing Sun knocked down a kill that set up game point for U of L, but the Bearcats fought hard to stay in the game. DuPont started the comeback with a kill and a ball handling error on the Cardinals drew UC to 29-27. A Yartseva attempt then sailed out of bounds that forced a Cardinals? timeout. Coming out of the break, Steph Marsh ended the game with a kill. Despite the defeat, the Bearcats outhit the Cardinals by a .462 to .439 margin.
The third game was another epic battle that featured 16 ties and seven lead changes. UC trailed early, but took a lead of 15-13 on a DuPont kill heading into the media timeout. Coming out of a stoppage, DuPont tied the score at 23 with a kill and did it again to knot the score at 24. A pair of Cards put U of L up 25-24, before Leslie Newell tied the game for the final time with a kill. With the score tied, Louisville broke the Bearcats? hearts with a 4-0 run to set up match point at 29-25. As they had all night, UC made a spirited comeback only to come up short once again. Newell got UC within three with a kill and Torblaa and Pongonis combined for a block that made it 29-27. But Lena Ustymenko ended the match with her 13th kill to drive Louisville to the win.
Ustymenko led Louisville with 13 kills, while Yartseva added 12 on an incredible .625 hitting. Sun led all players with 13 digs, while Yartseva added 10. Jennifer Hoffman led the Cardinals with six blocks, while Jennifer Craven (27 assists) and Pilnikova (14) shared the setting duties.
The Bearcat defense got 11 digs each from DuPont and Natalie Dossman, while Torblaa led the blockers with four. Torblaa?s total moved her into a tie for fifth place in school history in career blocks with 479. DuPont?s dig count also allowed her to jump from fourth into a tie for second in school history in career digs with 1,303, a spot she shares with Becky Tenkman.
The Bearcats will be back in action for the C-USA Tournament beginning next weekend. With the first round bye, UC will play on Saturday (Nov. 20). The time and opponent of the match will be announced on Sunday.