TicketsOct. 30, 2005
SOUTH BEND, Ind.---Cincinnati hung tough in all three games, but in the end Notre Dame proved too much as the seventh-ranked Irish pulled away from the Bearcats in a nationally televised BIG EAST contest on Sunday. Notre Dame won the match by scores of 30-24, 30-27, 30-27 in improving to 20-1 overall and a perfect 10-0 in conference play.
Erin Maldo and Maria Pongonis each finished with a match-high 16 kills for the Bearcats who are now 16-8, 7-3 BIG EAST. Notre Dame's defense which finished with 13 blocks, held the Bearcats to just .174 hitting. The Irish also held in check redshirt freshman Jessie Nevitt as she was limited to only one kill on -.333 hitting.
Ellen Heintzman and Lauren Kelbley led the Irish with 13 kills each. UC held All-American Lauren Brewster in check offensively, with just nine kills on .185 hitting, but the senior did lead all players with eight blocks.
The Bearcats were outstanding defensively, finishing with 14 team blocks, easily the highest total in a three-game match for UC this season. Nevitt had seven to lead the Bearcats, while Jenny Custer and Myanna Hellsten each had five. Melissa Zenz ran her streak of double figure dig matches to 23 with a match-high 13, while Pongonis tacked on 10 for her 16th double-double of the year.
Cincinnati got the match off to a slow start, falling behind by a 5-1 score. The Bearcats' struggles continued through the early stages of the game, as the visitors fell behind by an 18-11 count. Still trailing by a 22-17 score the Bearcats hit a hot streak, ripping off five straight points, two on blocks by the team of Custer and Nevitt to even the score. But Notre Dame would refuse to give in, scoring the next seven in a row to set up game point at 29-22. UC took advantage of two Irish errors to get within six, but a block by Heintzman and Brewster gave Notre Dame the 30-24 game one victory. Both teams struggled hitting in game one, with the Irish hitting only .128 but limiting the Bearcats to .065.
The second game got off to a much better start for the Bearcats as UC stayed close early. By the end of the frame, the score had showed a total of 14 ties and five lead changes. Notre Dame took a 16-12 lead only to see the Bearcats score three straight to get back within one. Later trailing by three, Cincinnati scored five in a row to take the lead at 21-20. The lead teetered back and forth between the teams with Notre Dame going ahead to stay at 25-24. Armed with the lead, the Irish scored four of the next five to move into game point at 29-25. UC used a Maldo kill and an error by Adrianna Stasiuk to get within two, but Kelbley closed the game with her sixth kill of the day to seal the Irish victory. The Bearcats fell to defeat in the frame, despite outhitting the Irish .289 to .250 in the game.
UC battled early in game three, falling behind early but coming back to knot the score at six. Notre Dame pulled ahead in the middle stages, grabbing a lead of as much as five. The pesky Bearcats wouldn't quit though, as a kill by Maldo brought the Bearcats back to 25-24. But as they had in the first two games, the Irish pulled away down the stretch. A kill by Stasiuk set up match point at 29-26, but Pongonis' 16th kill drew UC back within two. Heintzman then closed out the day with her 13th kill to give the Irish the victory.
The Bearcats will be back in action next weekend with a pair of road BIG EAST contests. UC travels to South Florida on Friday, with Georgetown the opponent on Sunday.