TicketsOct. 23, 2007
DAYTON, Ohio---It was same song, different verse for the University of Cincinnati volleyball team on Tuesday night as the Bearcats' losing streak reached five courtesy of a four-game loss to Wright State. After a dominating game one performance, the Bearcats fell by scores of 30-17, 23-30, 20-30, 19-30 in dropping to 14-9 on the year.
The win was a big one for Wright State (10-14) who snapped a seven-match losing streak to the Bearcats, spanning all the way back to 1995. Alisha Kimbro was nearly unstoppable for the Raiders, finishing with 24 kills, nine digs and six blocks. Shaunda Sandifer dominated at the net, finishing with 13 kills and 10 blocks.
Jenny Custer led the way for the Bearcats with 13 kills, while Stephanie Niemer and Jessie Nevitt totaled 12 each.
With the frustration of four-match losing streak built up, the Bearcats ripped through game one, hitting .471 in the runaway victory. Three Niemer kills helped UC run out to a 4-0 lead. Cincinnati continued to lead, later holding a 12-5 advantage, until the Raiders fought back to within 15-11. That's when the Bearcats really went to work, running off the next eight straight points, including three on Niemer aces and three on Custer kills. All told, the Bearcats ended the game on a 15-6 run that included five game one kills each from Custer and Niemer.
Cincinnati looked like a totally different team in game two and definitely not for the better. The Bearcats struggled mightily on offense, hitting just .073 for the frame. UC fell behind early at 6-4, but bounced back to salvage four tie scores in the game. Down just one at 11-10, the Bearcats watched as the Raiders put together an 8-3 run to open their lead up to six. Cincinnati couldn't really recover from the spurt, getting as close as four a couple of different times, the last at 23-19. From there, Wright State took control, scoring four straight to push ahead by eight. UC scored four of the next five to stay alive but an error and an ace by Wright State's Samantha Connor ended UC's hopes of a comeback.
The Bearcats still didn't have any answers after the break, as they hit just .229 in falling behind two games to one. Two kills by Kimbro keyed a 4-0 start to the game by Wright State, before two blocks pushed the advantage to 8-3. Trailing by four, the Bearcats watched their deficit balloon to eight as the Raiders scored six of the next eight. The Bearcats used both of their timeouts in the late going, coming at 23-14 and 26-16. Back-to-back kills by Custer and Jessica Elley brought UC within 29-20, but Connor ended the game with a kill for a 30-20 Wright State win.
The outset of game four saw Wright State, the Horizon League leaders in blocks per game, register three in the first six points of the game on the way to a 5-1 lead. On the strength of three Niemer kills, the Bearcats got back within 10-9. Wright State forced Cincinnati's first timeout with a 5-1 run that made the score 15-10. After two UC points, a game-changing 9-3 run allowed the Raiders to take the lead for good. Wright State continued to dominate the stat sheet, hitting .368 in the finale to UC's .068.
Cincinnati will again try to snap out of its losing funk, hitting the road for a BIG EAST match at Rutgers on Friday night. First serve in Piscataway, N.J. is set for 7 p.m.