TicketsSept. 25, 2005
Contact: Shawn Sell
CINCINNATI, Ohio---For the second time in just over a week, Cincinnati put all five of its primary hitters into double figure kills and that balance helped the Bearcats to a four-game win over Connecticut in BIG EAST volleyball action on Sunday afternoon in Fifth Third Arena.
UC shook off a poor game three performance to put the Huskies away with a dominant game four and improve to 7-5 overall and 2-0 in BIG EAST play. The Bearcats were victorious in the matinee contest by scores of 30-26, 30-26, 21-30, 30-19. Connecticut falls to 5-7, 0-2 BIG EAST with the defeat.
The match produced a career-best offensive day for redshirt freshman Jessie Nevitt as she totaled a personal-best and match-high 17 kills on .371 hitting. Myanna Hellsten matched her career-best with 14 kills, while Maria Pongonis tacked on 13. Erin Maldo and Jenny Custer rounded out the list of double figure Cats with 11 and 10, respectively.
"We came out flat in game three and Connecticut caught fire," said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. "We just can't allow that to happen. I thought we came out with more consistency and energy in game four and that made the difference. Overall, I thought we played pretty good, but we have a lot to improve on and a long way to go."
Cincinnati got off to a hot start, hitting .320 in game one. The Huskies hung close throughout, forging six ties, with the last coming at 19-all. UC pulled into a five-point lead with a 6-1 run that made it 25-20, Bearcats. Connecticut crept to within three at 28-25 on a Sade Chambers kill that forced a Bearcat timeout. After a UC error made it a two-point margin, Nevitt and Custer tallied back-to-back kills to seal game one.
The second game was ugly for both teams as UC pulled out the win, despite a slim .115-.095 hitting advantage. Just as had been the case in game one, the score was knotted at 19 when UC went on a mini-run to open a 24-21 lead. A Chambers kill would bring the Huskies within two, but a 5-0 Bearcat spurt set up game point at 29-22. UConn hung tough, drawing all the way to 29-26, until a kill from Hellsten sent the Bearcats into the break with a 2-0 lead.
Game three was nothing short of forgettable for the Bearcats as they limped to an .044 hitting performance, while UConn swung .342. UC was within two at 12-10 when Connecticut launched a 7-1 run that opened an eight-point lead and forced a Cincinnati timeout. Things didn't improve for the Bearcats after the break as they fell behind by as much as 10 and Megan Silver's kill closed out the 30-21 Huskie victory.
Cincinnati stumbled out of the gates in game four and actually trailed by a 9-7 score before turning it on and finishing off the Huskies. Four straight points put UC ahead to stay and Maldo's 11th kill of the afternoon drove the Bearcat lead to its highest point at 30-19 and ultimately ended the match for the home team. The final rundown showed a decisive .452-.077 hitting advantage for UC in game four.
The Bearcats' got a season-high 60 assists from setter Noel Olson and placed all five hitters in double figure kills for the second time after also reaching the feat vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
UC's defense got a career-high tying 23 digs from Pongonis and 22 from freshman libero Melissa Zenz. Custer, Hellsten and Nevitt came up with five blocks each as UC totaled 10, including six in game four.
Megan Crawley paced the Huskie offense with 13 kills, while Chambers and Sarah Singer each had 10. Julie Pickard led UConn with 22 digs, leading four Huskies in double figures.
The Bearcats will take a brief pause from BIG EAST play when they open a three-match road swing at IUPUI on Tuesday night. The match will get underway in Indianapolis at 7 p.m. CT.