TicketsSept. 10, 2005
Contact: Shawn Sell
HONOLULU, Hawaii---Cincinnati hung with No. 10 UCLA all match long, but a negative hitting performance in the decisive game five propelled the Bruins to a marathon victory over the Bearcats on Friday night. The match, played as part of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge, drops UC to 1-4 on the year. UCLA is a perfect 5-0 with the victory.
The Bearcats came out of the gates firing, winning game one 30-25. UCLA came back to win games two and three by scores of 32-30 and 30-22, but Cincinnati rebounded for a 30-27 win in the fourth game. The Bruins then limited the Bearcats to -.050 hitting in game five, clinching the match with a 15-9 triumph.
Maria Pongonis led a balanced Cincinnati offensive attack with 15 kills. Jessie Nevitt added a career-high 14 and Myanna Hellsten reached double figures for the first time this season with 13. Jenny Custer tacked on 10 kills for UC. For the night, the Bearcats hit .165 as a team and got a season-best 52 assists from setter Noel Olson.
The evening's first game featured 11 ties and three lead changes and saw UCLA outhit the Bearcats .237 to .222 despite coming up short on the scoreboard. UC was able to erase a 20-17 deficit, taking a lead it wouldn't relinquish at 23-22 on a kill by Nevitt. The Nevitt kill sparked an 8-3 run by the Bearcats that pushed them to the win.
Game two was heartbreak city for the Bearcats as they managed to fight off a 29-26 deficit to set up game point at 30-29 on a UCLA service error, two kills by Nevitt and one by Pongonis. With UC within a point of taking a two games to none lead, UCLA sandwiched kills by Colby Lyman and Rachell Johnson around a Bearcat attack error to seal the 32-30 win.
The third game was all UCLA as they took the lead at 2-1 and never looked back. It wasn't easy for the Bruins, though, as they hit just .188 for the frame, but limited the Bearcats to only .053.
Needing a win to stay alive, the Bearcats rode a match-best .308 hitting percentage to a 30-27 game four victory. The Bearcats trailed by as much as three in the game and were able to overcome a late UCLA run that knotted the score at 25. Down the stretch, the Bruins committed three attack errors and one service error to help the Bearcats to the three-point win.
In the deciding game, the Bearcats raced to a 7-4 lead, taking the three-point advantage on an Olson kill. UCLA came back to take a 9-8 lead, but UC knotted it up on Pongonis' 15th kill of the night. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, that would be the last point they scored as the Bruins closed the match on a 6-0 run. Nana Meriwether recorded a pair of kills in the run, but UCLA was aided by four UC attack errors.
Meriwether led UCLA with a match-high 18 kills, with Kaitlin Sather right behind with 17. Johnson added 14, while Lyman had 12. The Bruin defense got nine blocks from Meriwether and 22 digs from Jordan Smith.
The UC defense was once again paced by Nevitt in the middle and freshman libero Melissa Zenz on the backline. Nevitt had a team-best eight blocks, while Zenz led all players with 25 digs. Pongonis recorded a career-high 19 digs and Olson matched her personal-best with 12.
The Bearcats will wrap up play in Hawaii tonight at 4:30 p.m. HT, taking on Cal State Northridge of the Big West Conference.