TicketsSept. 7, 2006
BOULDER, Colo.---Cincinnati was held to a season-low .105 hitting as Colorado snapped a three-match losing streak with a sweep of the Bearcats on Thursday night. The contest was the opening match of the Colorado Invitational.
The Bearcats (5-2) were limited to sub-.050 hitting in two of the three games and finished with no players in double figure kills. After dropping game one 30-24, UC saw a game point go by the wayside as Colorado took a 32-30 game two victory. The Buffaloes (2-3) then sealed the win with a 30-20 triumph in game three.
Defense proved to be one of the key factors in the win for Colorado as the Buffaloes outdug the Bearcats by a 54-35 margin. Colorado placed four players in double figure kills, led by Amber Sutherland's match-high 15. Lauren Schaefer, Lara Bossow and Mallori Gibson each tacked on 11, with Schaefer hitting an eye-popping .688.
Cincinnati, the nation's number two blocking team, did little to hurt that ranking, finishing the three-game match with 14 total blocks. Myanna Hellsten, ranked atop the national leaderboard, had six, as did Jessie Nevitt. Jessica Elley and Noel Olson each added four.
"Tonight we just got beat by a better team," UC head coach Reed Sunahara stated. "Colorado plays in the Big 12 and that's strong competition every night. We are a young team and I can only hope we use this as a learning experience and get better."
Cincinnati started the night out strong, racing to a 10-4 lead in game one. Colorado found a solution, however, as the Buffaloes rolled into an 11-4 run that pushed the home team in front for the first time at 15-14. UC would never recover from the Buffalo surge, despite staying close until the late stages. The Bearcats hit another snag at 24-22, as Colorado ripped off four straight points to crawl within two points of clinching game one. A kill by Lindsey Peterson snapped the UC cold streak, but a service error by the sophomore put Colorado up 29-23. The Bearcats countered with a block, but Schaefer's fifth kill of game one gave Colorado the victory. UC's offense struggled throughout the frame, hitting just .024.
Game two had a similar feel as the Bearcats led early, holding the advantage until 14-13. The teams battled to the end with neither team able to separate by more than two points. Gibson set Colorado up with the first game point of the second frame, but UC countered with a kill by freshman Katey Schroeder. A Buffalo attack error gave Cincinnati its first game point, but that would be the Bearcats' final marker of game two. Sutherland connected on a Buffalo kill and setter Ashley Nu'u gave the home team a 31-30 lead when she dumped a ball into the far corner beyond the Bearcat blockers. Bossow then dropped her ninth kill of the match to seal the 32-30 victory for Colorado. Cincinnati improved on its first game hitting woes, improving to .238 in the frame.
The sting of the game two defeat seemed to carry over into the third stanza as Colorado was in control from start to finish. The Buffaloes jumped to a 7-3 lead, only to see the Bearcats cut the deficit to 11-9. UC couldn't get any closer as a 5-0 Colorado run pushed the home team's advantage to 20-13. Down the stretch, the visitors could get no closer than six at 26-20, before Colorado scored the final four points of the match to take the victory. The Bearcats' game one hitting woes returned in the finale, as UC's final number showed .032.
Elley led the sluggish Bearcats offense with nine kills, while also tacking on a team-high 12 digs. Colorado's defense was led by 21 digs from libero Kristen Karlik and 17 from Sutherland.
The Bearcats will be out to rebound from Thursday's disappointment when they return to the court on Friday against former Conference USA foe Southern Miss. Match time is set for 5 p.m. MT. The Golden Eagles are led by Ricci Luyties, a former college teammate and close friend of UC coach Sunahara.
Notes
- Series record: Colorado leads, 1-0
- Myanna Hellsten passed Becky Tenkman (1995-98) for seventh place on UC's career total blocks chart with 463, two better than Tenkman's total.