TicketsSept. 18, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.---Cincinnati got 16 kills from Jenny Custer and the Bearcats hit .322 in rolling to a sweep of IUPUI on Tuesday night at The Jungle. The 30-24, 30-24, 30-25 victory moves the Bearcats to 8-4 on the year and is the team's fifth straight over the Jaguars.
Custer turned in one of her best performances of the season, matching her season-high in kills, hitting .500 and adding 10 digs. The senior also moved into sole possession of fifth place on UC's career service aces list after knocking down a trio of aces.
Jessie Nevitt turned in another outstanding performance, tacking on 14 kills and six blocks, while hitting .480. Stephanie Niemer's rapid improvement continued as she hit .423 with 13 kills and a career-high eight digs.
The Bearcats hit only .243 in the opening frame, but led from start to finish in jumping to a one game to none lead. An early block by Custer and Nevitt put the Bearcats in front by a 4-1 score, but IUPUI would come back later to get within 11-10 on a kill by Carol Newell, younger sister of four-year UC starter, Leslie Newell. The Bearcats stretched their lead back out, however as another Custer-Nevitt block capped a 4-0 Bearcat spurt. The visitors would continue to put the pressure on, building their largest lead of the game at 23-14. Down the stretch, the Jaguars would get no closer than five points and Niemer's third kill ended the game.
Cincinnati had to take its first timeout of the night early in game two when a kill by Newell put the Jaguars up 11-8. The Bearcat deficit didn't last long as a 7-2 run pushed UC back in front to stay at 15-13. After the Jags scored out of the break, Cincinnati tallied eight of the next 11 to push the lead to six. IUPUI once again rallied, getting a Devika Bellamy kill to get within 26-23. From there, the Jaguars scored just once more as two Nevitt kills and a kill and ace by Custer put the Bearcats into the break with a 2-0 lead. UC hit a match-best .444 in the frame, while IUPUI had its best performance at .211.
Game three actually belonged to IUPUI until a very late push by the Bearcats. The hosts led by as much as four several times, the last coming at 17-13. At that point, two kills by Niemer and one each by Custer and Lindsay Upton tied the score for the first time in the frame. The balance of game three was back and forth with the final deadlock coming at 24 each. The Bearcats then went to the blocks for the final winning push, tallying blocks on three of the next four points to get within two of winning the match. Nevitt scored kill number 14 to get UC to match point and an IUPUI error ended the match-up.
Newell had a solid game to lead the Jaguars (8-7), finishing with 11 kills on .391 hitting. UC's Natalie Dossman and Custer led all players with 10 digs each.
The Bearcats will now get ready for the open of BIG EAST play with a pair of league contests this weekend. UC heads to Georgetown for a Friday night meeting, before wrapping up the week at USF on Sunday afternoon.