TicketsOct. 1, 2006
QUEENS, N.Y.---Cincinnati couldn't overcome a dramatic game one setback, as the Bearcats hit a season-low .091 in a three-game loss at St. John's on Sunday afternoon. The Bearcats were handed the setback by scores of 39-37, 30-18, 30-20 in falling to 11-4 overall and 2-2 BIG EAST. St. John's remains unbeaten in BIG EAST play at 4-0 and holds an overall mark of 19-1.
Myanna Hellsten was one of the few bright spots for the Bearcats as she led the way with 15 kills on .419 hitting. UC's three outside hitters were all held in negative hitting by a stingy St. John's defense. Jessie Nevitt tacked on nine kills for UC. Hellsten added four blocks defensively, while Jaime Frey had 22 digs.
St. John's got a strong performance from preseason All-BIG EAST selection Hui Ping Huang who finished with 16 kills and 19 digs. Patti Hardimon added 14 kills and 22 digs and Latoya Blunt had 11 kills.
Game one went down as a classic, with 11 ties scores before the game was finally decided at 39-37 in St. John's favor. The Bearcats started strong, jumping to an 8-4 lead and keeping the margin to 19-16 on a pair of blocks by Hellsten. The Red Storm came right back, scoring five straight points to assume their first lead at 21-19. The Bearcats, down by four later, clawed to within 26-25 using a three-point run to get within a point. UC again came back to tie the game at 28, but St. John's set up game point on a Huang kill. The Red Storm couldn't capitalize, committing a service error and doing the same thing at 30-29 following a Huang kill. From there, Cincinnati gave itself game point at 36-35, but Huang dropped a kill to end the threat. Custer responded with a kill of her own, but that was the end of the Bearcats' scoring as the Red Storm scored the final three points of the marathon frame, the final on a Wioleta Leszczynska ace to take the victory. UC's defeat came in part from an .092 hitting performance.
St. John's clearly had the advantage after its dramatic game one victory and the Red Storm used it to run to an 8-3 lead early on. The Bearcats never really threatened in the frame, watching a 5-0 run put them in a 17-10 hole. UC would get within 21-16, but St. John's scored nine of the final 11 points of the game to take a two games to none lead courtesy of the 30-18 victory. Cincinnati's hitting woes continued, as the Bearcats finished game two at .067 to show a .082 performance through two frames. St. John's tuned up, hitting .256 in the frame.
Game three was more of the same, as St. John's dominated the early going, running to a 10-3 lead. The Red Storm continued to hold a comfortable lead at 17-10, before the Bearcats marched back to within 18-14. From there, the Red Storm took control with a 9-2 run to get within three of sealing the match at 27-16. Cincinnati scored four of the next six, but a kill by Caitlin Rimgaila sealed the match for St. John's.
After 10 of its last 11 matches on the road, the Bearcats finally return home to Fifth Third Arena next weekend for a pair of matches during the Bearcats Sports Festival. UC will battle Villanova on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a visit from Rutgers a day later at 2 p.m.
Notes
- Series record: Cincinnati leads, 2-1.
- Noel Olson tallied her third double-double of the year and the 15th of her career with 35 assists and 10 digs.