TicketsNov. 24, 2006
| UC seniors Noel Olson and Myanna Hellsten. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Cincinnati's Myanna Hellsten and Noel Olson got a Senior Night to remember as the Bearcats erased a two games to one deficit to capture a five-game win over Kentucky on Friday night in Fifth Third Arena. UC, which also trailed significantly in game four, were victorious by scores of 28-30, 30-17, 26-30, 31-29, 15-13 in improving to 22-7 on the year.
The Bearcats were balanced on both offense and defense getting positive contributions from a number of sources. As she has so many times in 2006, sophomore sensation Jessie Nevitt led the Bearcats with 18 kills, just one better than the total produced by junior Jenny Custer. Jessica Elley had 15 kills from her outside hitter position, while Hellsten tacked on 11 in the middle. Olson handed out 65 assists at setter.
Cincinnati's defense turned in a strong effort with 14.5 team blocks and 90 team digs. Nevitt led all players with seven blocks, while Custer, Hellsten and Elley had five each. Jaime Frey had a match-best 32 digs and Elley added 18.
Kentucky (18-11) got a huge performance from Queen Nzenwa who burned the Bearcats for 24 kills on .561 hitting. Nzenwa was one of four Wildcats in double figures, being joined by Melissa Popp and Nicole Britenriker (15 each) and Ashlee Fisher (10). Jenni Casper paced the defense with 30 digs.
"It's a win and we will take it," a relieved UC head coach Reed Sunahara said afterward. "I am very proud of the way our kids played, especially when we were down so much in the fourth game. Now we just have to wait and see what happens, but this win definitely increased our chances of getting into the NCAA's."
The Bearcats came out of the gates slowly, as a three-point deficit nearly turned into a doubling up as a 5-0 run by UK drove the visitors in front 17-9. Trailing later by a 23-17 count, the Bearcats used a 7-2 burst to climb within a point. Kentucky would respond by scoring three of the next four, two on kills by Britenriker to force a Sunahara timeout at 28-25. Out of the break, UC made it interesting, as two kills by Elley and a Wildcat error brought the Bearcats within 29-28. Cincinnati couldn't capitalize out of a Wildcat timeout as Fisher buried a kill to send the visitors to a first game win.
UC's defense came to play in the second frame as the visitors were limited to .048 hitting. The Bearcats started game two on a 15-5 run that forced a pair of Kentucky timeouts. Cincinnati saw its lead grow to 11 at 20-9 and the UC advantage hovered around 10 points for the balance of the game. Custer, Elley and Nevitt were all strong, contributing five kills apiece in the game.
Game three quickly turned into the Nzenwa show as the Bearcats had no answer for UK's talented sophomore. Nzenwa recorded 10 kills in the game, but Cincinnati was able to stay close throughout. UK would control the early action, only to see the Bearcats knot the score at 17 on a Hellsten kill. The Wildcats came right back with three straight points, two on kills by setter Sarah Rumley to retake a three-point edge. UC battled back again to within a point at 25-24, but UK recorded three of four points to take control. Down the stretch, an Elley kill wasn't enough as one by Popp and a UC error gave UK a two games to one advantage.
It appeared early in game four that the match would end in Kentucky's favor as the Wildcats raced to a convincing lead of 16-9. Slowly, UC would make its way back into the game, taking its first lead with a 10-2 run. The see-saw battle would tip in Kentucky's favor when Britenriker dropped a kill to make it 26-25. Three of the next four points would go in the Bearcats' favor however, including an impressive solo block of Rumley by Hellsten at 28-27. After a UK timeout and a Britenriker kill, UC took game point on a Hellsten kill. UK countered with a kill by Fisher, but then Nevitt rose for a kill and combined with Custer for a block of Fisher to send the match to a decisive game five.
Game five was another classic, with six ties and three lead changes. Two early kills by Popp and one by Britenriker gave the Wildcats the early edge at 6-3, but Cincinnati responded with seven straight points to take a four-point lead. UK came back with a 5-1 spurt and Cincinnati had to take a timeout clinging to an 11-10 lead. After the break, Elley and Fisher traded kills and Nzenwa added one of her own to produce a tie at 12. Nevitt and Nzenwa then did the swap and the score was knotted at 13. An error by Fisher set up match point and UC knew just what to do as Olson fed Nevitt for her 18th kill of the night and the win for the Bearcats.
Cincinnati will now wait to learn of its possible NCAA Tournament at-large fate. The show is set to be broadcast live on ESPNEWS on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 3 p.m.
Notes
- Series record: Kentucky leads 13-6.
- The victory marked UC's first five-game match win of the year in four tries.
- Jenny Custer (8th of season, 18th of career), Jessica Elley (16th of season and career) and Noel Olson (8th of season, 20th of career) all had double-double performances.
- Myanna Hellsten passed former teammate Maria Pongonis for ninth place on UC's career kills list with 1,071.
- Custer moved into sole possession of 10th place on UC's career service aces list with 121. She trails Tina Durbin (1984-88) by just one entering her senior season.
- Jessie Nevitt jumped from sixth to a tie for third on UC's single season block assists list with 152. She shares the position with the late Stephanie Rosfeld. Nevitt also claimed seventh on the total blocks chart with 171.