TicketsSept. 29, 2006
STORRS, Ct.---Cincinnati put five hitters in double figure kills, using late pushes in each game to earn a hard fought four-game win at Connecticut on Friday night in Gampel Pavilion. The 30-26, 26-30, 30-25, 30-24 win was an important one for the Bearcats who improve to 2-1 in the BIG EAST with the victory. The Bearcats, now 11-3 overall, handed head coach Reed Sunahara his 150th victory at UC with the triumph.
Junior Jenny Custer had a magnificent performance for the Bearcats, finishing with 17 kills and matching her career-high with 15 digs. Jessica Elley and Jessie Nevitt added 13 kills each in the win, while Myanna Hellsten and Lindsey Peterson each had 10.
The Bearcat defense got 29 digs from Jaime Frey, as the freshman matched her career-high for the second straight match. Nevitt added six blocks and Peterson had four. Noel Olson had 55 assists, seven digs and three kills from her setter position.
The Huskies put four players in double figure kills, but were limited to .133 hitting in the match. Sade Chambers led the way with 13 and Kate Seabaugh added 11. Megan Silver had 10 along with nine blocks, while Devon Farrell also had 10 kills. Connecticut falls to 11-5, 1-2 BIG EAST with the setback.
"This was a good win for us," Sunahara said. "I thought we played well down the stretch when it counted. We just need to continue to get better, but we are going in the right direction."
The Bearcats and Huskies battled early in game one, with a kill and an ace by Custer spurring the visitors into a 10-8 lead. With the score knotted at 15, UConn used a 5-1 run, capped by a Farrell kill to pull in front 20-16. A Huskie error and two Nevitt kills drew the Bearcats to within 20-19, but the hosts responded with a 5-3 surge to pull in front 25-22. Holding a 26-23 deficit, the Bearcats suddenly roared to life, ripping off the last eight points of game one to take the victory. Custer and Hellsten were instrumental in the run, with the former totaling two kills and a block and the latter a kill and two blocks. By the end of game one, the Bearcats held a .240 to .130 hitting advantage.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, they could not ride the momentum of the game one comeback into the second frame. UC took on a case of the hitting blues in the game, finishing the frame at just .109 hitting. The score was close early, but a 5-0 run by UConn put the Huskies in front 10-6, forcing a Bearcat timeout. From there, Connecticut continued to dominate the frame, opening up a 10-point lead when Silver connected on a kill at 26-16. Cincinnati threatened to make it two straight comebacks, however as a 6-1 Bearcat surge drew the visitors to within 27-24. It wasn't too be for the Bearcats, however as two errors set up game point for the Huskies. After UC cut the deficit to 29-26, Seabaugh's sixth kill of the match closed out the 30-26 win for Connecticut.
Cincinnati jumped to an early advantage in game three at 7-3 and marched to a 19-13 lead later. Despite the deficit, UConn continued to fight, scoring four straight points to force a Bearcat timeout with the visitors leading 23-20. The Huskies proceeded to score four of the next six points to climb within one at 25-24. Cincinnati answered with an Elley kill, but Connecticut responded with a kill by Shaub to make it 26-25. UC wouldn't be denied, scoring the last four points, the final on Custer's 14th kill to take the 30-25 win. UC found some rhythm hitting .250, while limiting the Huskies to a .083 clip.
The fourth game was another battle with both teams taking turns in the lead. Connecticut took the first advantage going up 15-12 when Silver and Sarah Singer combined on a block. Down 18-17, the Bearcats took control of the game, scoring five straight, two on blocks by Nevitt and one a kill by the sophomore. A Nevitt kill put UC in front 25-21, but consecutive Huskie blocks drew the visitors within two. With the score 26-24, the Bearcats ran off the final four points of the match, two on kills by Elley to close out the 30-24 victory.
The Bearcats wrap up their four-match road swing to open BIG EAST play, traveling to St. John's on Sunday for a 2 p.m. match-up. The Red Storm is coming off an impressive three-game sweep of Louisville on Friday evening.
Notes
- Series record: Cincinnati leads, 2-0.
- Reed Sunahara picked up his 150th career victory at Cincinnati.
- Cincinnati put five hitters in double figure kills for the third time this season.
- Jaime Frey matched her career-high with 29 digs, as did Jenny Custer with 15.
- The following players turned in double-doubles: Custer (4th this season, 14th of career); Jessica Elley (9th of season and career); Lindsey Peterson (4th of season, 5th of career).