TicketsNov. 26, 2008
BEARCATS HEAD TO UAB FOR FINAL REGULAR-SEASON MATCH: Cincinnati heads to Birmingham, Ala. to face former Conference USA foe UAB in its final regular-season match of the season. The Bearcats and Blazers meet at 8 p.m. (ET) on Friday, Nov. 28 at Bartown Arena. Both teams enter the match with identical 25-6 records.
HARDWARE SHOW: At the 2008 BIG EAST volleyball banquet, four UC volleyball players and head coach Reed Sunahara earned conference awards. Sunahara won the BIG EAST Coach of the Year award after leading Cincinnati to the program's first BIG EAST regular-season championship. Senior Jessie Nevitt and sophomore Stephanie Niemer took home first-team all-BIG EAST honors, while senior Jessica Elley and sophomore Annie Fesl were second-team all-BIG EAST selections. Nevitt joined Bonita Wise as the only two Bearcat players to earn four all-conference awards, while becoming the first UC player to earn four first-team all-conference awards. The first-team selection for Niemer was the first of her career, after earning second-team honors and Freshman of the Year honors last season. Elley and Fesl both earned their first all-conference honors.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: With a three-set win over Rutgers and a St. John's loss at DePaul on Sunday, Nov. 16, Cincinnati earned a share of the program's first regular-season BIG EAST Championship. The regular-season championship is the second for the school, as the men's soccer team won a BIG EAST division championship in 2006.
ELLEY CLOSING IN: Senior Jessica Elley heads into Friday's match versus UAB with 970 career kills. Elley needs just 30 more kills to become the 14th player in UC history to reach 1,000 kills.
LEADING THE PACK: Senior Jessie Nevitt finished the regular-season as the only player in the conference to rank in the Top 10 in hitting percentage, blocks, and kills in overall and conference-only contests. In overall contests, Nevitt ranks first in hitting percentage (.410), third in blocks (1.29), and 10th in kills (3.26). In conference-only matches, Nevitt ended in first in hitting percentage (.461), third in blocks (1.30), and sixth in kills (3.54).
15 IN A ROW: Cincinnati's five-set loss to Pittsburgh in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals snapped Cincinnati's 15-match winning streak. The 15-match winning streak is the second longest winning streak in program history, falling just one win short of tying for the longest winning streak in school history. During the win streak, UC won 16 straight sets from Oct. 31 through Nov. 21, which ties for fifth on UC's consecutive sets won chart.
NOTHING LIKE HOME: The Bearcats improved to 14-0 at home with a three-set win over Rutgers on Nov. 16. It is the second time in school history that the Bearcats have gone undefeated at home in a season. The 2003 UC team went 13-0 at home. The 14 home wins this season are also the most home wins in a single season in program history.
ABOUT UAB: The Blazers enter Friday's match with a 25-6 record after dropping a five-set match to Tulane in the Conference USA Championship match. UAB is led by Ivan Boznic's 3.38 kps and 3.38 dps. Nevena Stefanov is the offensive catalyst and averages 11.12 aps.
THE SERIES WITH THE BLAZERS: Friday will be the 20th meeting between the two schools with UC owning a 13-6 lead in the all-time series. The last meeting resulted in a 3-0 UC win in 2004, when both schools were members of Conference USA.