TicketsOct. 20, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky.---In recent years, Cardinal Arena has been done too kind to Cincinnati as the Bearcats have lost five of their last seven, including three to Louisville in the building. Unfortunately for UC, history repeated itself on Saturday as the Cards earned a hard-fought four-game win over the Bearcats in BIG EAST action. The day was bittersweet for the Bearcats as Jessie Nevitt became the 13th player in UC history with 1,000 career kills.
Cincinnati (14-8, 5-4 BIG EAST) hung right with the BIG EAST leading Cardinals, but couldn't overcome a combined 29 kills from the outside hitter duo of Jana Matiasovska and Svetlana Dukule. Freshman Stephanie Niemer, playing in her first match against the arch-rival Cards, led all players with 20 kills on .425 hitting. Nevitt added 18 kills along with seven blocks, while Jessica Elley tallied a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs.
Matiasovska led her team with 19 kills, while Dukule had 18 on .567 hitting. Lecia Brown, the nation's leading blocker, didn't hurt her numbers with a match-best 12.
Nerves appeared to bother the Bearcats at the day's outset as the Cardinals roared to a 9-3 lead, using three blocks and a trio of Cincinnati errors to aide the start. Things continued to look bleak for UC as it fell behind by a 15-6 count. With their backs against the wall, the Bearcats scored seven of the next eight points, two on aces by Elley to trim the deficit to 17-14. Louisville's answer to the run was three kills by Dukule to put Cincinnati in a 21-14 hole. The Bearcats got to within 28-25 late in the going, but three kills each by Matiasovska and Dukule provided Louisville's final five points of the game and a 30-26 win. A key to Louisville's win was a .333 to .057 hitting advantage.
Cincinnati shook off its slow start at the beginning of game two with an Elley kill and two by Nevitt staking the visitors to a 3-0 lead. The Bearcats would build a lead of 7-3, only to see Louisville come back to 9-8 on a Landi kill. UC took control of the game at that point, ripping off a 10-4 run, with Custer, Nevitt and Niemer picking up two kills apiece. A Jenny Custer kill later pushed Cincinnati's lead to 10 at 25-15. UC couldn't close right away as Louisville scored nine of the next 11 points, with reserve setter Elena Pilnikova providing a spark with two kills and two blocks. From there, the Bearcats finally sealed the deal, using two Nevitt kills and Niemer's 11th of the match to tie the match at a game apiece. Cincinnati won a close hitting battle in game two by a .295 to .290 margin.
An early 6-0 run haunted UC in game three as the Cardinals raced to a 10-4 lead it wouldn't relinquish. After getting back within three, the Bearcats watched as Louisville scored five straight to double up the Cats at 16-8. U of L continued to cruise, going up by 11 when Matiasovska dropped a pair of kills to make it 25-14. A block and two kills by Nevitt kept Cincinnati's hopes alive, until a kill by Brown at 29-19 pushed the Cardinals to a two games to one lead. Cincinnati's strong hitting in the previous game disappeared in game three as the Bearcats hit .175 to Louisville's .333.
The fourth game was dicey and back and forth throughout, with each team taking turns at runs that kept the score close. Cincinnati used a 4-0 spurt to go in front 13-11, but later was on the wrong end of a 20-16 score. Back UC came to 21-20, but back-to-back kills by Rui Liu and Matiasovska pushed the Cards back up three. Two kills by Niemer and a Cincinnati block evened the score, but Louisville dumped consecutive kills to take a 25-23 lead. Two more Niemer kills kept the Bearcats alive and a kill by Custer brought UC to 27-26. But Louisville turned the corner, doing what it does best, blocking, to take a 28-26 lead, before Matiasovska's kill gave them game point. After a kill by Elley, Matiasovska was back at it again, dropping her 19th kill to give U of L the win.
The Bearcats are back on the court trying to snap a four-match losing streak, opening a two-match week at Wright State on Tuesday. UC gets back into BIG EAST play on Friday at Rutgers.