TicketsOct. 29, 2005
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SETTING THE SCENE: Fresh off a three-game win over DePaul and riding a four-match winning streak, the University of Cincinnati volleyball team returns to the court for a stiff challenge at No. 7 Notre Dame on Sunday, Oct. 30. The match-up is scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPNU and will get underway at 12:30 p.m. The Bearcats come into the match holding a 16-7 overall record with a 7-2 BIG EAST mark. Notre Dame is 19-1, 9-0 BIG EAST after defeating No. 6 Louisville on Saturday afternoon. The meeting will be the first between the schools since 2002.
NOTES FROM DePAUL:
- The Bearcats stretched their win streak over the Blue Demons to four, dating back to a setback in the 2001 Conference USA Tournament.
- Jessie Nevitt recorded a new career-high with four service aces.
- Noel Olson moved into sixth place on the UC career assists chart with 38 vs. the Blue Demons. Olson's total of 2,653 moves her past Beth Herman for sixth.
- Erin Maldo led the Bearcats in kills for the first time this season, finishing with a total of 13. She shared match-high honors with Jenny Custer vs. Pittsburgh.
- Melissa Zenz ran her streak of double figure dig matches to 23. She is also within three digs of fifth place on the school's single season digs chart with 468.
ABOUT NOTRE DAME: The Fighting Irish have made a steady climb through the national rankings this season after starting the year just outside the top-25, reaching a high point of No. 7 in the latest CSTV/AVCA rankings. Notre Dame is 19-1 overall and 9-0 in the BIG EAST after beating No. 6 Louisville on Saturday afternoonin a battle for first place in the BIG EAST. The Irish are led by All-American and preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, Lauren Brewster. Brewster leads the team in kills per game (4.07), hitting (.301) and blocks per game (1.58). Lauren Kelbley has also been solid offensively, averaging 3.69 kills per game and hitting .270. Defensively, both Meg Henican (4.51) and Adrianna Stasiuk (4.30) average over four digs per game, while Carolyn Cooper tacks on 1.42 blocks per game.
ACADEMICALLY SPEAKING: A pair Bearcats have been recognized for their academic success recently. On Oct. 15, senior Maria Pongonis was inducted into UC's prestigious Legion of Excellence for academic success. Pongonis, along with junior Noel Olson were also nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-District squad. Pongonis joins teammate Myanna Hellsten as current Bearcats in the Legion of Excellence.
BALANCE, BALANCE: Balance has become the name of the game for the Bearcat offense in 2005 as they have put five hitters into double figure kills four times this year. In four of the contests, Jenny Custer, Myanna Hellsten, Erin Maldo, Jessie Nevitt and Maria Pongonis have all reached double digits, with Lindsey Peterson replacing Pongonis in the most recent outburst on Oct. 23 vs. Pittsburgh. Pongonis (twice), Custer and Nevitt (once each) have each taken a turn as team-high honoree, with Custer and Maldo sharing the honor vs. Pitt. In the five matches, UC is averaging 16.91 kills per game and hitting .265, while setter Noel Olson is averaging 13.32 assists per game.
NEVITT WINS FOURTH BIG EAST AWARD: Redshirt freshman Jessie Nevitt continued her outstanding season as she was named the BIG EAST Conference Volleyball Rookie of the Week for the fourth time on Oct. 24. Nevitt helped the Bearcats to a 3-0 week and had a trio of solid performances to earn the accolade. For the week, Nevitt averaged 4.00 kills and 1.42 blocks and hit .324. Nevitt, who reached double figure kills in all three of UC's matches, tied her career-high with 19 kills in the Bearcats' win over West Virginia, while adding five blocks. She added 16 kills and five blocks vs. Wright State and 13 kills and seven blocks in a triumph over Pittsburgh.
YOUTH IS SERVED: With Maria Pongonis nursing an injury, sophomore Erin Maldo and freshman Lindsey Peterson stepped into the forefront with outstanding performances in UC's wins over West Virginia (Oct. 21) and Pittsburgh (Oct. 23). In the two matches, the duo averaged 3.67 and 2.33 kills per game, respectively with each adding the first double-double of their careers. Against WVU, Maldo turned in one of the best performances of her short career, setting a career-high with 17 kills on .324 hitting, then following it up with 16 kills and 10 digs vs. Pitt. Peterson had four aces and four blocks in the WVU match, then came back with career-highs of 13 kills and 12 digs vs. Pitt.
REGIONAL TALK: The latest regional rankings, compiled by college volleyball guru Rich Kern have been released and after a slow climb through the top-10, the Bearcats are listed third in the Northeast Region. UC, which holds a RKPI ranking of 39 (similar to the RPI used in basketball), trails only BIG EAST rivals Louisville and Notre Dame in the region.
WINNING TRADITION: Cincinnati entered this season hoping to stretch its streak of 20-win seasons to 11 and achieve the feat for the sixth time under head coach Reed Sunahara. By virtue of the Bearcats' win over Western Kentucky on Oct. 5, UC earned its 10th win of the year, stretching that streak to 14 consecutive seasons.
DEFENSE, DEFENSE: After twice breaking school records for most points scored earlier this season, Cincinnati established a new defensive mark in its Oct. 12 win over Morehead State by allowing the Eagles just 46 points in three games. The total matched the effort of a Sept. 14, 2002 win over Austin Peay that set the mark for fewest points allowed in a three-game match since the inception of rally scoring. The -.044 hitting by Morehead also marked the second time this year UC had held an opponent under zero hitting (-.017 vs. Texas-Pan American, Sept. 2). The Bearcats backed up the Morehead effort by holding Wright State to .017 hitting on Oct. 18.
CONFERENCE KILLERS: Since the beginning of BIG EAST play, the Bearcats' offensive numbers have taken a vast jump up from the performance during the non-conference slate. A comparison of UC's conference vs. non-conference statistics:
Stat BIG EAST play Non-conference play
K/G 16.11 14.98
A/G 14.66 13.24
Hit % .232 .233
UC also has several players among the BIG EAST leaders in the conference-only stats.
- Noel Olson leads the conference in assists per game with 13.20.
- Jessie Nevitt is fifth in hitting percentage (.380) and 10th in points per game (4.54).
- Melissa Zenz is second in digs per game with 5.03.
AT THE CONTROLS: Junior Noel Olson has been solid in her second year as the Bearcats' setter, ranking second in the BIG EAST with 12.58 assists per game. She had one of the finest performances of her career on Oct. 23 vs. Pittsburgh nearly missing a triple-double as she set career-highs with eight kills and 14 digs and added 53 assists. This year, Olson has climbed to sixth on UC's career assists per game and total assists charts. Olson is averaging 8.26 assists per game in two-plus seasons of action and has registered 2,653 assists to become just the seventh player in school history with 2,000 assists. Olson will next challenge for fifth on the assists chart as she is just 185 behind Anne Kordes' (1994-95) 2,838.
HOT HITTING: Jessie Nevitt contributed to UC's hot hitting in the Oct. 1 win over Rutgers with one of the top performances in program history. For the match, Nevitt hit .564, recording 18 kills with just one error on 26 swings. The mark represented the fourth-highest single match performance in program history. Annisa Blosser holds the record after hitting .793 in 1994.
HOME COURT HEROICS: Cincinnati has enjoyed a strong home court advantage since the opening of Fifth Third Arena in 1989. In the 16 years the building has been in existence, the Bearcats have posted a 135-53 (.718) record at home and are 70-7 (.909) over the past seven years. A handful of those contests have also taken place outside the Arena at both the former Laurence Hall and, more recently, at St. Ursula Academy. During the program's time in Fifth Third, it has enjoyed two lengthy winning streaks, including a school-record 23 match string that ended last season. At the time the streak was snapped, it represented the third-longest active streak in the nation.
THE NEXT QUEEN?: While she is still nearly 1,500 digs away from the school record, freshman libero Melissa Zenz may be the next UC player to challenge the program's "Queen of Digs," Trish Ladusaw. This season, Zenz has averaged 5.26 digs per game to rank second in the BIG EAST, and has 20-plus digs in 12 of this year's 23 matches, including a career-high 34 on Oct. 21 vs. West Virginia. The mark in the WVU match missed tying Ladusaw's single match record by just a single dig. In recording 28 digs vs. Tulsa and 26 vs. New Mexico State, Zenz became the first Bearcat since Ladusaw in 2002 to total over 20 digs in two consecutive matches. She comes into the Notre Dame match having topped 20 in four of the last five matches. On the UC single season charts, Zenz is first in digs per game and sixth in total digs (468). She needs just four more to pass Lindsey Garrison for fifth on the list.
MOST IMPROVED: Sophomore right-side hitter Jenny Custer has been the team's most improved player this season with a stellar second collegiate season. This year, Custer is averaging 3.51 kills, 2.19 digs and 0.88 blocks per game, while hitting .276 and tallying the first 10 double-doubles of her career. Custer was at her best during the State Farm Bearcat Invitational presented by the Vernon Manor Hotel as she earned MVP honors. She turned in one of her most brilliant performances in UC's win over Western Kentucky on Oct. 5, recording a career-high 19 kills and hitting .484. She also leads the team with 38 service aces and ranks sixth in the BIG EAST with 0.43 per game.
NEW LEADER: With the graduation of four-year mainstays Julie DuPont, Leslie Newell and Rachel Torblaa, Maria Pongonis has stepped forward as a team leader for the 2005 season. The only senior on the Bearcat roster, Pongonis leads the squad with 3.51 kills per game. After missing most of the West Virginia and Pittsburgh matches, Pongonis returned to the line-up to spark UC's win over DePaul on Oct. 28. Pongonis has reached double figure kills in all but four matches in which she has played this season, including a season-high 19 against Texas-Pan American, Tulsa and Rutgers and has also added 15 double-doubles. Pongonis has shown her defensive prowess by twice recording a career-best 23 digs, including in UC's BIG EAST triumph over Connecticut. She ranks second on the squad with 3.48 digs per game.
IN-STATE SUCCESS: Since Reed Sunahara took over as head coach in 2000, UC has enjoyed great success against in-state rivals, holding a record of 16-5 (.762). Ohio State has been the Bearcats' biggest nemesis, winning all three contests. UC has been at its best against Dayton, winning all five meetings with the Flyers under Sunahara. A look at UC vs. the state of Ohio with Sunahara as head coach: Bowling Green (0-1), Dayton (5-0), Kent State (1-0), Miami (3-0), Ohio (0-1), Ohio State (0-3), Wright State (4-0), Xavier (3-0).
STRONG AT THE NET: Redshirt freshman Jessie Nevitt has proven to be a force at the net during the 2005 season and she has twice written her name into the UC record books. On Sept. 3 vs. New Mexico State, Nevitt set a new mark with 11 block assists in a four-game match. Her 11 total blocks also matched the mark held by current Bearcat Myanna Hellsten and former UC standout Rachel Torblaa. Nevitt went one step better in UC's Sept. 20 contest at Marshall as she recorded 13 total blocks, setting a record for most in a five-game contest and most ever by a UC player. For the season, Nevitt is fourth in the BIG EAST with 1.37 blocks per game and has recorded at least five blocks in 13 of 23 contests.
BEARCATS FOURTH IN BIG EAST POLL: In their first season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference, the Bearcats have been tabbed to finish fourth in a poll of the league's 15 coaches. The Bearcats are competing in the BIG EAST for the first time in 2005 along with DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida. Louisville, last season's C-USA regular season and tournament champions, was selected atop the BIG EAST poll. The Cardinals, who posted a 30-3 record last year, earned 12 of a possible 15 first place votes. Notre Dame, the defending BIG EAST titlist, picked up the final three first place votes and placed second. Pittsburgh, UC and Marquette round out the top-five.