TicketsOct. 3, 2008
CINCINNATI - In her first start of the season, sophomore Lindsay Upton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) paced the Cincinnati offense with 10 kills as the Bearcats opened its five-match homestand with a convincing three-set sweep over DePaul (25-12, 25-17, 25-18) at Fifth Third Arena Friday evening. Cincinnati (11-5; 1-2 BIG EAST) moved to 5-0 at home on the season, while DePaul (1-14; 0-4 BIG EAST) fell to 0-4 on the road.
The Bearcats came out of the gates strong in the opening set as kills by Upton, sophomore Stephanie Niemer (Erlanger, Ky./St. Henry) and senior Jessica Elley (Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert) propelled Cincinnati to a 5-1 lead. A pair of senior Jessie Nevitt (Kennesaw, Ga./Kennesaw Mountain) kills pushed the Bearcat lead to seven points, 11-4, before a mini three-point Cincinnati spurt put the Bearcats further in front, 14-5. Still ahead by nine points, 20-11, a kill by freshman Missy Harpenau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy), a kill by Nevitt and two DePaul attack errors gave the Bearcats set point, 24-11. After a Blue Demon side out, a Niemer kill gave the Bearcats the opening set, 25-12.
Behind two kills and two service aces from Niemer, two kills by Elley, and two kills by Harpenau, Cincinnati continued its strong play by jumping out to an 11-2 cushion in set two. The Blue Demon blocking game helped DePaul cut its deficit to six points, 15-9, but a Harpenau kill, a block by Elley and Nevitt and a DePaul ball handling error quickly extended the lead back to nine points, 18-9. The Blue Demons could not overcome the deficit and Cincinnati went up two games to none with a 25-17 set-two win.
DePaul came out of the 10-minute intermission reenergized and jumped out to an 8-6 lead. Cincinnati withstood the early Blue Demon run and used a kill by Niemer, a kill by Upton, a block by Niemer and Upton and a Blue Demon attack error to catapult itself in front, 10-8. After a DePaul side out made the score 10-9, Cincinnati rallied off seven straight points to take a commanding 17-9 advantage. From that point, Cincinnati cruised to a 25-18 third-set victory.
Upton and Niemer notched 10 kills apiece for Cincinnati, while sophomore Annie Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) posted a double-double with 30 assists and 11 digs. Nevitt finished with match with seven kills on eight attempts en route for a .875 hitting percentage.
Cincinnati returns to the floor on Sunday, Oct. 3 when it faces Notre Dame at 2 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena. The game between Notre Dame and Cincinnati will be televised on ESPNU will Same Gore handling the play-by-play duties and Krista Blunk providing the color commentary.