TicketsNov. 1, 2006
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SETTING THE SCENE: Cincinnati takes to the road for the final time this season, embarking on a BIG EAST Volleyball weekend trip to Pittsburgh and West Virginia. The Bearcats have been red hot lately, winning five straight to climb to a tie for fourth in the BIG EAST with a 18-5 overall mark and a 7-3 record in conference play. UC faces a stiff test at Pittsburgh (19-7, 7-3 BIG EAST) on Friday (Nov. 3) at 7 p.m., as the Bearcats share fourth place in the league with the Panthers. The weekend wraps up on Sunday (Nov. 5) at West Virginia (2-25, 1-9 BIG EAST) with a 2 p.m. match.
NOTING THE BEARCATS:
- The Bearcats are 18-5 this season and have climbed to a tie for fourth in the BIG EAST at 7-3. UC has won five straight, marking the team's longest win streak since a nine-game string in 2004.
- Jessica Elley leads the Cincinnati offense, averaging a career-best 3.62 kills per game and adding 3.36 digs and 0.99 blocks per game.
- Jaime Frey ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in digs per game with 5.14. She is averaging 6.14 digs per game in BIG EAST play to rank first. For the second time in three matches, Frey etched her name in the UC record book against Dayton, tying the four-game match record with 35 digs.
- The Bearcats rank seventh nationally with 3.49 blocks per game. Sophomore Jessie Nevitt leads three players averaging over a block per game, ranking 10th in the nation at 1.64 per game.
- Jessie Nevitt has been red hot as of late, averaging a team-high 4.32 kills and 1.89 blocks per game, while hitting .468 in her last eight matches.
- Myanna Hellsten joined elite company in the Dayton match as she became the 12th player in program history with 1,000 career kills.
- The Dayton match also produced a milestone for senior setter Noel Olson as she topped the 4,000 career assists mark, becoming only the second UC player to do so.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS:
- Pittsburgh has won six of its last seven matches to improve its record to 19-7 overall and 7-3 in BIG EAST play. The UC match starts a tough stretch for the Panthers who will face Louisville and Notre Dame in its following two events.
- Junior Diana Andreyko, a first team All-BIG EAST selection last year, leads Pitt with 4.01 kills per game to rank seventh in the league. Jessica Moses is the top defender, ranking third in the BIG EAST with 1.53 blocks per game.
ABOUT THE MOUNTAINEERS:
- The Mountaineers have won just once this season, an Oct. 8 sweep of Georgetown, since opening the year with a five-game win over Oakland. WVU is 2-25 overall and 1-9 in the BIG EAST.
- The WVU offense, which is hitting just .085, gets 3.33 kills per game from Abby Tevis. Aurora Ebert-Santos is tops on defense at 4.43 digs per game.
IN GOOD COMPANY: Myanna Hellsten joined an elite club on Oct. 31 against Dayton, registering the 1,000 kill of her career. By reaching the milestone, Hellsten is just the 12th Bearcat ever to do so. With a total of 1,009 to her credit, Hellsten needs just 31 more kills to crack the UC top-10.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP: As a redshirt freshman last season, Jessie Nevitt was outstanding, earning first team All-BIG EAST honors and winning the league's rookie of the year. This fall, Nevitt has been even better, ranking first in the BIG EAST in blocks per game (1.67) and sixth in hitting percentage (.357), with both marks representing career-bests. Nevitt has been strong both offensively (double figure kills 13 times) and defensively (at least five blocks 16 times) this fall. The Kennesaw, Ga. native has been on a tear lately averaging a team-high 3.88 kills and 1.92 blocks per game, while hitting .420 in her last eight matches. She had a huge match vs. Seton Hall on Oct. 20, setting a career-high with 21 kills and breaking three school records with 14 blocks.
BEARCATS' BLOCK PARTY: Cincinnati has hosted a season-long block party, ranking near the top of the BIG EAST (third) and national leaderboards with 3.49 blocks per game. The duo of Jessie Nevitt and Myanna Hellsten have led the charge, averaging 1.67 and 1.44 blocks per game, respectively. Nevitt is in the top spot in the BIG EAST, taking over a slot Hellsten has held all season. The latter is now tied for fourth. Twice this season, UC has set or matched several blocks records. On Sept. 2 at Bradley, Hellsten recorded a record 12 and the Bearcats set marks for most total blocks (22.0) and block assists (36) in a three-game match. On Oct. 20 vs. Seton Hall, Nevitt set four-game records for block assists (12) and total blocks (14), with the second mark equalling the highest in any match by a UC player.
THE YOUNG GET YOUNGER: With Natalie Dossman lost for the season, an already young Bearcats' squad got younger with freshman Jaime Frey assuming the starting libero position. The Cincinnati native has held her own, averaging 5.14 digs per game to tie for second in the BIG EAST. She has been even better in BIG EAST matches, averaging a league-leading 6.14 digs per game in conference play. The Cincinnati native has recorded at least 20 digs in six of 10 BIG EAST matches, including a career-high 33 in a win over Notre Dame on Oct. 28. The mark against the Irish also set a school record for digs in a three-game match, as Frey shattered Trish Ladusaw's six-year old record of 24. For her efforts, she was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Oct. 30. After the Notre Dame outburst, Frey did it again three days later, matching Ladusaw's four-game record with 35 digs against Dayton.
KEEPING UP THE TRADITION: UC's win on Oct. 20 against Seton Hall pushed the Bearcats to the 15-victory plateau for the season, marking 13 consecutive years the program has reached the feat. The next two goals are stretching the program's string of 20-win seasons to 12 straight and returning to the NCAA Tournament after a three-year absence.
IN GOOD HANDS: The setter position is once again in good hands with senior Noel Olson in her third-year as a starter. The preseason All-BIG EAST selection has shown steady improvement each year and is averaging a BIG EAST-best 12.73 assists per game. Olson will go down as one of the top setters in program history, as she ranks second in school history in career assists (4,042) and is fifth in assists per game (9.40).
THE NEW KID IN TOWN: Sophomore Jessica Elley is on the fast track to stardom with her play in 2006. Following in the footsteps of her predecessors at outside hitter, Julie DuPont and Maria Pongonis, Elley is leading the team with 3.62 kills per game, along with 3.36 digs and 0.99 blocks per game. She had a career-best 21 kills against UCLA on Aug. 27 and nearly had a triple-double against Bradley on Sept. 2 with 13 kills, 11 digs and seven blocks. Elley was named to the all-tournament team at the State Farm Bearcats Invitational and was tabbed the MVP of the Radisson Hotel Invite, along with a BIG EAST Player of the Week award on Sept. 2.
CUSTER'S CONTRIBUTIONS: Junior Jenny Custer has been a solid contributor to UC's success this season, ranking fourth on the team with 2.95 kills per game and adding 2.36 digs. An improvement in blocking has also been key, as Custer is averaging a career-best 1.04 per game. She turned in the biggest blocking outing of her career on Sept. 1 against Austin Peay, tying a then-school record with 10 block assists in a three-game match. Custer was at her best with a career-high 22 kills at Syracuse on Sept. 24, including six during the final nine points of UC's deciding game four victory. Custer also has four double-doubles this season to push her career total to 14.