TicketsSept. 3, 2009
UC HOSTS BEARCATS INVITATIONAL: Cincinnati will play in front of its home crowd for the first time this season when it welcomes the College of Charleston, Evansville, and Youngstown State to Clifton for the 2009 Bearcats Invitational. UC opens the tournament against Youngstown State on Friday, Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m., before taking on Evansville and the College of Charleston on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.
ABOUT THE COUGARS: The College of Charleston enters the Bearcats Invitational with a record of 1-2 after a tough opening weekend of competition at the Big Orange Bash Tournament in Clemson, S.C. The Cougars defeated Winthrop in five sets, before dropping a five-set match to South Carolina and a four-set match to host Clemson. Emily Sawin is the top offensive threat early in the season, averaging 2.79 kills per set, while Sarah Havel posts a team-best 1.15 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: Saturday's meeting with the College of Charleston will be the first meeting between the schools.
ABOUT THE PURPLE ACES: Evansville got its season off to a good start with two wins at the Memphis Tournament over tournament host Memphis and Southeast Missouri State. Ellen Sawin, the sister of the College of Charleston's Emily Sawin, leads the offensive attack averaging 11.46 assists per set and four Purple Aces players are averaging over two kills per set. Defensively, April Lubrecht leads the squad with 4.23 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH EVANSVILLE: Cincinnati leads the all-time series versus Evansville, 4-1, but this will be the first meeting since 1993. UC won the 1993 meeting, 3-1, at the West Virginia Tournament, and the Bearcats are 3-0 when playing the Purple Aces in Cincinnati. Evansville's lone win in the series occurred in Evansville on Oct. 4, 1992.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS: Youngstown State owns a 1-2 record on the season and the Penguins are led by Ruth Boscaljon, who leads the team in both kills per set (3.00) and blocks per set (1.08). The Penguins dropped matches to Villanova and Maryland last weekend at the Maryland Invitational, before defeating Stony Brook.
THE SERIES WITH YOUNGSTOWN STATE: Saturday's meeting with Youngstown State will be the first meeting between the schools.
OH SO CLOSE: Junior Stephanie Niemer could not be stopped during UC's match against No. 17 Utah at the Utah Classic. The Erlanger, Ky., native posted a career-high 34 kills, which tied her for second place on Cincinnati's single-match kills list with UC Hall of Famer Sonja Jackson, who put down 34 kills against Dayton on Nov. 5, 1986. Niemer's 34 kills are the most since 2003, when Julie DuPont had 33 kills at Butler on Sept. 25, 2004. Heather Augustine owns the UC single-match kills record with 36 kills against Marquette on Nov. 22, 1991.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: For her performance during all three matches of the Utah Classic, junior Stephanie Niemer was named to the 2009 Utah Classic All-Tournament team. Niemer averaged 5.29 kills per set, hit .273, and averaged 1.93 digs per set and 0.43 blocks per set. Niemer's 74 kills for the weekend were tops among all players.
UC PICKED TO FINISH IN A TIE FOR SECOND; NIEMER, FESL EARN PRESEASON HONORS: One year after capturing a share of the BIG EAST Conference regular-season championship, the University of Cincinnati volleyball team was picked to finish in a tie for second place in the 2009 BIG EAST Coaches' Preseason Poll, joining the University of Notre Dame with 178 votes. The University of Louisville was chosen as the preseason favorite with a 186 votes and the Cardinals earned six of 15 first place votes. Notre Dame garnered five first-place votes compared to four for UC. Last season, Cincinnati was picked third in the 2008 preseason poll. Cincinnati junior outside hitter Stephanie Niemer (Erlanger, Ky./St. Henry) and junior setter Annie Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) represented the Bearcats on the all-preseason team. Niemer, who was a first-team all-BIG EAST selection last season, was one of four players to be unanimously selected to the all-preseason team, joining USF's Marcela Gurgel, and Louisville's Lecia Brown and Justine Landi. Fesl was a second-team all-BIG EAST recipient in 2008.
RECRUITING CLASS RANKED 29TH ACCORDING TO PREPVOLLEYBALL.COM: Cincinnati had its recruiting class ranked in the Top 30 in the country according to Prepvolleyball.com. The group of middle blocker Jordanne Scott, middle blocker Emily Hayden, setter/right side Megan Turner, middle blocker Becca Refenes, and defensive specialist Karen Onuki give the Bearcats the No. 29 recruiting class for 2009. Scott, Hayden, and Turner all rank in the Top 150 on Prepvolleyball.com's Senior Aces list, led by Scott and Hayden, who rank No. 61 and No. 74, respectively. Head Coach Reed Sunahara has now brought in a Top 30 recruiting class for the second straight year after having his 2008 class ranked No. 15.
FOLLOW UC VOLLEYBALL AND HEAD COACH Reed Sunahara ON TWITTER: Fans can follow the Cincinnati volleyball team and head coach Reed Sunahara on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Cincinnativball and www.twitter.com/ReedSunahara.