TicketsNov. 11, 2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I.---For the third consecutive season, the University of Cincinnati will meet the team that has eliminated it from the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship, when the fifth-seeded Bearcats open play against No. 4 Notre Dame. The meeting will be the first of the 2007 edition of the championship event and will take place at 10 a.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 16 at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wis.
Notre Dame has ended UC's tournament hopes in each of the last two seasons, including a come-from-behind five-game win in Fifth Third Arena last year in the first round. UC and Notre Dame, along with Villanova ended BIG EAST play with identical 9-5 records, but by virtue of tiebreakers, Villanova was seeded third, Notre Dame fourth and the Bearcats fifth.
The Bearcats bring an 18-10 overall record into the contest after splitting road games at Notre Dame and DePaul over the weekend. The Fighting Irish made a last weekend charge into the third place tie by knocking off the Bearcats and nationally-ranked Louisville over the weekend to improve to 13-12 on the year.
"Notre Dame is playing well right now and this will be a challenge for us," UC head coach Reed Sunahara stated. "We are excited to end the year tied for third, but know the road to winning the tournament, which is our goal, will be a tough one. Obviously, we've faced Notre Dame in the tournament the last two years and we are hopeful to get a better outcome this time around."
Louisville and St. John's shared the regular season BIG EAST crown, but a Cardinal win on Oct. 6 gave U of L the No. 1 seed. After the three-way tie for third, a four-way tie for sixth place occurred, with Pittsburgh being the odd team out. USF earned the sixth seed, ahead of Connecticut and Syracuse.
Bearcat Volleyball isn't the only UC team to experience BIG EAST Deja Vu this fall. The men's soccer team was able to make the third time a charm when it knocked off Providence in the opening round after being eliminated by the Friars the last two years.