TicketsSept. 12, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Cincinnati placed four players in double figure kills and recorded four double-doubles leading to the Bearcats' third straight win, a four-game decision over Morehead State on Tuesday night in Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats, now 8-2 on the year shrugged off a 32-30 game one defeat to win the final three frames by scores of 30-19, 30-23, 30-21.
Senior setter Noel Olson dished out a season-high 56 assists, with four of her five primary hitters reaching double digits in kills. Jessica Elley led all players with 19, while Jessie Nevitt added 14, Lindsey Peterson 13 and Myanna Hellsten 12. UC's other hitter, Jenny Custer, finished with nine.
As has been the case thus far in 2006, the Bearcats' blocking was key, as UC finished the match with 15.5 as a team. Hellsten led the way with 10, while Custer and Nevitt tacked on five each.
"We started slow and let them control the tempo of the first game," UC head coach Reed Sunahara said. "We made a run, but it wasn't good enough. I thought we settled down after that and did a good job. After the first two games, our blocking was only mediocre, but we picked it up late and that was a key to our victory."
The Bearcats started the night slow and never really recovered during a 32-30 game one setback. The Eagles (7-4) shocked the home crowd with a 7-1 run to open the match. UC played its way back into the game with blocks and aces, totaling four and three during the game, respectively. The home team would take its first lead of the night on the strength of a 14-7 run. The game would eventually result in 16 ties and six lead changes before it was decided. MSU got to game point first at 29-28 on a kill by Erin Peak. Elley tied the game at 29, but Laura Cox quickly untied it burying a kill. The Eagles couldn't capitalize, committing a service error, before another Cox kill and an Elley error closed the door on MSU's 32-30 win. Morehead State took the victory despite being outhit .237-.234.
The disappointment of game one clearly didn't carry over as UC hit a match-best .380 in game two in running away with a 30-19 win. The game started out close, but the Bearcats built a lead throughout, forcing Morehead timeouts at 15-9 and again at 24-14. Down the stretch, two kills by Custer and one each by Nevitt and Hellsten keyed the Bearcat winning run.
The third game saw a block by Cox and Peak put the Eagles up front 10-9 early on. The Bearcats would counter, however, scoring 11 of the next 14 points to open a 20-14 advantage. UC continued to pour it on, going in front 26-19 and forcing a MSU stoppage. Out of the break, kills by Amber Campbell and Ashley Doscher sandwiched around a UC error forced a Sunahara timeout at 26-22. The Eagles would then get as close at 28-23, but consecutive errors by Doscher spelled the end for MSU.
UC would go on to dominate game four, racing to a 12-5 lead that caused an early Eagle timeout. After hitting just .022 in the third game, Morehead State's hitting woes continued in the finale, as it totaled just .049. The Eagles would get as close as six two different times, but found themselves down 25-17 when they used their final timeout. After a Cox kill cut the deficit to 28-21, MSU tried to ride the senior, but she tallied back-to-back errors to end the match.
Doscher had an impressive 16 kills to lead the Eagles, while Cox added 10, but hit just -.023. Kristina Schoo led all players with 24 digs and setter Katelyn Barbour handed out 43 assists.
Jaime Frey led the Bearcats in digs with 17, one better than Elley's final count. Custer and Olson each added 12 and Peterson finished with 10. UC's 72 digs were the teams most since recording 83 against UCLA on Aug. 27.
UC now takes a week-long sabbatical from competition, returning to the court at Western Kentucky next Tuesday (Sept. 19). The Bearcats will host the annual Alumni Match this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The location of the event has been moved to the new practice gym on the first floor of the Richard E. Lindner Center.