TicketsOct. 17, 2009
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Freshmen Emily Hayden (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) and Jordanne Scott (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) and sophomore Missy Harpenau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) each posted double-digit kills as the University of Cincinnati volleyball team defeated Rutgers University 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-16) Saturday afternoon in BIG EAST Conference action. With the win, Cincinnati improved to 14-8 overall and 5-1 in conference action, while Rutgers fell to 8-12 overall and 1-5 in the league.
For the second straight match, junior Annie Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) led the Bearcats to a team hitting percentage over .300 as UC registered 45 kills and made just 13 errors in 98 attempts en route to a .327 clip. Fesl finished with 33 assists, four digs, two blocks, and one kill.
Cincinnati and Rutgers were neck-and-neck early in the opening set until a kill by Harpenau, two Scarlet Knights errors, and a junior Stephanie Niemer (Erlanger, Ky./St. Henry) ace gave the Bearcats a 12-8 cushion. After Rutgers closed within two points, 13-11, another four-point UC run, which included a Harpenau kill and three Scarlet Knights attack errors helped Cincinnati widen its lead to six points, 17-11. With its six-point lead still intact, 22-16, two Scott kills in addition to a Rutgers miscue sealed the 25-16 opening set win.
UC took an early four-point lead in the second set until a Scarlet Knights surge gave Rutgers a 13-11 lead. Six ties ensued, with the last at 21, before UC imposed its will. Hayden registered a kill to put the Bearcats in front by one point and that was followed by a Rutgers ball handling error, which put Cincinnati in front 23-21 and forced the Scarlet Knights to burn a timeout. Following side outs from both teams, Niemer delivered a clutch kill that gave the Bearcats the 25-22 second-set win.
Similar to the first two sets, the third set remained tight early until two Scott kills, a kill by junior Lindsay Upton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame), and a block by Niemer and Scott pushed UC to a 12-8 advantage. Holding on to a four-point lead, 17-13, UC scored six consecutive points to take a commanding 23-13 lead. During the six-point run, Harpenau recorded two aces and a kill. From that point, the Bearcats coasted to a 25-16 victory.
Hayden led all players with 12 kills and hit .320, while Scott and Harpenau added 10 kills apiece. Niemer added seven kills and nine digs in the win and did not record an error as she hit .350 for the match.
UC concludes its four-match road swing on Sunday, Oct. 18, when it travels to South Orange, N.J., to face Seton Hall at Noon.