TicketsSept. 4, 2007
DAYTON, Ohio---Cincinnati ran into a buzz saw on Tuesday night as 23rd ranked Dayton hit .400 en route to a sweep of the Bearcats at the Frericks Center. In addition to the hot offense, Dayton limited UC to a season-low .071 hitting in the 30-25, 30-17, 30-14 victory.
The Bearcats (5-2) had no answer for Dayton's Jamie-Lee Richards as she scorched them for 13 kills on .524 hitting. Bethany Akerhielm added nine kills on .538 hitting for the Flyers. Dayton improves to 7-0 on the season with the victory.
Stephanie Niemer led the Bearcats with 11 kills, but has held to just .185 hitting by a stingy Flyer defense. The Flyers finished the match with nine team blocks. Jaime Frey paced the Cincinnati defense with 14 digs. UC, ranked fifth in the BIG EAST in blocks this season, finished with just one against Dayton.
Game number one was a fierce battle throughout, with one late Dayton push providing the difference. The scoreboard showed 11 tie scores, until a 5-0 Flyer run snapped a 12-all tie. Dayton's lead grew as high as seven, before a 7-2 spurt by the Bearcats drew the visitors to within 25-23. Down the stretch, two kills by Niemer weren't enough as Dayton used kills by Yvonne Martin and Richards and a Chelsy Christoff ace to tally the final three points of a 30-25 game one victory.
The second game was a nightmare from start to finish for the Bearcats. At the outset, three kills by Richards and three Dayton blocks forced an early Cincinnati time-out with the score 6-1. Two kills and an ace by Niemer helped the Bearcats get within two, but a 10-2 run by the Flyers pushed the host's advantage into double figures for the first time. The Bearcats fought back within eight at 21-13 when Jenny Custer buried a kill, but Dayton scored nine of the final 13 points of the game to take a two games to none lead into the break. On the strength of seven blocks by Dayton, Cincinnati hit only .029 in the game two setback.
Cincinnati started game three on a good note as two kills each by Jessie Nevitt and Jessica Elley gave the Bearcats an early 6-4 edge. With the score knotted at seven, however, Dayton went to work, ripping off 13 of the next 15 points, with UC's only two tallies coming on Flyer service errors. Already up by 11, Dayton used three kills by Kourtney Norris to end the Bearcats chances on a match-closing 10-3 run. UC's hitting woes continued as the Bearcats fell to a .032 mark in the finale.
The Bearcats will try to snap a two-match losing streak, traveling to the Panther Invitational, hosted by Wisconsin-Milwaukee this weekend. UC will take on the host Panthers, along with Bradley and Virginia Tech at the event.