TicketsAug. 26, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Cincinnati ran to an 11-1 lead in game one and never looked back, sweeping Maine in three games to improve to 2-0 in its season-opening State Farm Bearcats Invitational presented by the Vernon Manor Hotel. UC was victorious by scores of 30-21, 30-14, 30-18 in the first-ever volleyball meeting between the schools.
After putting all five of their hitters in double figure kills in Friday's win over Western Michigan, the Bearcats were balanced again vs. the Black Bears (0-3), with Jenny Custer leading the way with 12 kills on .391 hitting. Jessica Elley hit .450, on her way to her second straight double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Myanna Hellsten tacked on nine kills, while Jessie Nevitt and Lindsey Peterson each contributed six. UC hit .367 for the match, behind 39 assists from Noel Olson.
As good as the Bearcats' offense was, the defense was just as good. UC had 12.5 team blocks, led by seven from Hellsten and five from Nevitt. Libero Natalie Dossman finished with a career-high 22 digs.
"Even though we got out to a big lead, I thought we actually started slow," UC head coach Reed Sunahara said. "I was disappointed after such a good win last night that we started slow. But then we caught fire and I thought we did a good job of putting the pressure on them."
The Bearcats roared out of the gates, jumping to the aforementioned 11-1 lead in game one. The going wouldn't be so easy for Cincinnati from there, as the Bears embarked on an 11-3 run that cut the Bearcat advantage to 14-12. Maine stayed close for awhile, but a 6-0 run by the home team down the stretch closed out the 30-21 victory.
UC was on fire in game two as the team hit a match-best .552 with no errors in a 30-14 victory. The Bearcats opened their first double figure lead of the game when Elley connected on back-to-back aces to put her squad up 19-8. No let up was in sight on the Bearcats' end as Hellsten's fourth kill of the match sealed the 30-14 win.
Game three was more of the same as back-to-back Maine errors forced a Bears' timeout with the visitors on the wrong end of a 17-6 lead. Sunahara used the opportunity to get experience from young players Katey Schroeder and Jami Torok and Cincinnati sealed the match victory with a Hellsten kill and a Maine service error.
Brittany Kiehl led the Maine offense with five kills, while Lindsay Allman paced the defense with 14 digs.
The tournament continues at 7:30 p.m. tonight with 10th-ranked UCLA taking on Western Michigan. UC is next in action on Sunday, battling the Bruins at 1 p.m.