TicketsOct. 14, 2007
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J.---Despite a school record .376 hitting performance and a career-high 29 kills from freshman Stephanie Niemer, Cincinnati suffered its third straight loss, a five-game defeat to Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon at Walsh Gymnasium. UC couldn't overcome a two games to none deficit, despite setting a new school mark for hitting percentage in a five-game match. The Bearcats, now 14-7, 5-2 BIG EAST, fell by scores of 28-30, 28-30, 30-21, 30-16, 15-11.
Niemer had a huge day with her career-high in kills, while hitting .408 in the five games. UC fell despite holding a .376 to .266 edge in hitting. Jessie Nevitt and Jessica Elley added 14 kills apiece, with each hitting over .400. Lindsay Upton added 11 kills for the Bearcats.
Seton Hall's (11-10, 2-6 BIG EAST) talented freshman Sarah Osmun led her team with 25 kills, while Allie Matters tacked on 21. Cincinnati native Tricia Meyers added 18 for the Pirates.
"It goes without saying that this was a tough weekend for us," UC head coach Reed Sunahara stated. "Today we couldn't finish in the first two games and then we came back and won big in three and four. In the fifth, we are up at the switch, but again just couldn't finish. We will get better, I just don't know when."
The opening game came right down to the end, as evidenced by the .366 to .364 hitting edge that Seton Hall held. The Bearcats came out slow, falling behind early by an 8-2 count. Slowly, UC made its way back into the game with a Niemer kill making it 23-22 and forcing a Seton Hall timeout. Two kills by Osmun and one by Matters let the hosts go back up by four, but the Bearcats roared back with four straight points, two on Niemer kills. With the score knotted at 27, Osmun and Jenny Custer traded kills, but the former followed it up with a kill and an ace to give Seton Hall the win.
Game two was more of the same for the Bearcats as Seton Hall led early and used a kill by Melissa Bellomy and Meyers and a block by the duo to open an 18-14 lead. The Bearcats again came back to knot the score at 27, until a costly UC service error and an Osmun kill gave the Pirates game point. Seton Hall couldn't close as it committed a service error, but Meyers came back to drop a kill on the next point to send the Pirates up two games to none. The strong hitting continued in the frame as SHU held a .429 to .375 advantage.
Facing a two game deficit, the Bearcats roared to a 6-0 lead at the outset of game three. Later, a Bearcat error brought Seton Hall within 18-16, but Cincinnati responded with four straight points to open a six-point cushion. Niemer got hot down the stretch with a trio of kills, leading the Bearcats to a 30-21 win. UC dominated the hitting stats in game three with a .364 to .100 advantage.
Despite holding a lead of just 10-9 early in game four, the Bearcats dominated the game hitting .600 with zero errors and holding Seton Hall to .103. Cincinnati closed the game by scoring 20 of the last 27 points to send the contest to game five. Niemer came up big in the frame with eight kills on .727 hitting.
With the momentum seeming to be on their side, the Bearcats couldn't finish in game five, getting outhit by a .400 to .056 count. Cincinnati led at the switch over by an 8-6 score, but watched as two Osmun kills and a Seton Hall block put the visitors in front. The Bearcats retied the score at 10 on a Nevitt kill, but two Niemer errors helped the Pirates go in front to stay at 13-10. UC tried to stay alive with an Upton kill, but a kill and an ace by Matters ended the Bearcats' hopes.
Cincinnati's defense got a match-high 17 digs from libero Jaime Frey and 14 from Elley. Setter Annie Fesl matched her career-high with 69 assists and picked up her sixth double-double of the year with 11 digs. Nevitt had five blocks at the net, while Upton tacked on four.
Seton Hall got 13 digs each from Matters and Osmun and four blocks from Meyers. Setter Brittany Rahrer handed out 65 assists for the Pirates.
The Bearcats road gets no easier as they must travel to league-leading Louisville next Saturday (Oct. 20). The match-up with the arch-rival Cardinals will get underway at 2 p.m.