TicketsOct. 26, 2009
FINAL NON-CONFERENCE STOP: Cincinnati will make its final non-conference road trip of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 27, when it travels to Dayton, Ohio to take on Wright State at 7 p.m. UC returns to conference action this weekend when it welcomes Marquette and Syracuse to Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats open the weekend with the Golden Eagles on Friday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m., before concluding the weekend against the Orange on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m. Friday's match will be Halloween Night as fans are encouraged to show up and support the Bearcats in their best Halloween outfit.
ABOUT THE RAIDERS: Wright State comes into the final week of October with a 10-15 overall record and a 2-9 Horizon League mark. Shaunda Sandifer is having a great season to this point for the Raiders leading the team in both kills per set and blocks. Sandifer averages 3.59 kps and 1.02 bps, while hitting at a .339 clip. Defensively, WSU is averaging 16.55 digs per set and 2.09 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH WRIGHT STATE: Tuesday's meeting with Wright State marks the 32nd meeting all-time between the Bearcats and the Raiders with UC owning a 20-11 lead in the all-time series. UC has won four of the last five meetings dating back to 2003, including a three-set win last season at the Bearcats Invitational.
HARPENAU LEADS UC TO HOMECOMING WIN: UC kicked off homecoming weekend festivities last weekend with a bang with a three-set win over Louisville. The Bearcats were led to the win by sophomore Missy Harpenau, who put together arguably her best performance of the season. Harpenau led UC with 12 kills and added eight digs, two service aces, two assists, and a block, while hitting .524 for the match.
SCOTT BRINGS HOME ANOTHER AWARD: After helping the University of Cincinnati volleyball team extend its home winning streak to 23 matches, tying the school record for most consecutive home wins, freshman Jordanne Scott was named the BIG EAST Conference Volleyball Freshman of the Week on Oct. 26. With the honor, Scott joins Syracuse's Laura Homann as the only two freshmen to have earned the award twice this season. In Cincinnati's lone match against Louisville, Scott posted a strong overall performance for the Bearcats with six kills, four blocks, and two digs in the win. Scott's 1.33 bps this week ranked fifth in the conference.
NOTHING LIKE FIFTH THIRD ARENA: With a three-set win over Louisville on Oct. 23, Cincinnati extended its home winning streak to 23 matches, which tied the school record. The Bearcats have won 23 consecutive home matches dating back to Nov. 3, 2007. UC won its final two home matches of the 2007 season against Pittsburgh and West Virginia, before going 14-0 at home last season and starting this season 7-0 at home. The other 23-match home winning streak in school history spans from Nov. 17, 2002 to Oct. 24, 2004.
FESL APPROACHING TOP THREE: All season, junior Annie Fesl has been creeping up Cincinnati's all-time assists chart and currently sits in fourth with 3,849 career assists. Fesl is just three assists away from surpassing Paige Pees (1988-1991) for third on the all-time chart. Fesl is on pace to crack 4,000 career assists this season, which would make her just the third player in UC history to reach that mark joining Noel Olsen (2003-06) and Laura Lauder (2000-03).
HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS: Prior to Cincinnati's match at DePaul on Sunday, Oct. 11, Cincinnati had posted a team hitting percentage over .250 in just five of 20 matches. However, over the last four matches, Cincinnati has hit above .250 in each match, including hitting over .300 in three of the four matches. Over the last four matches, junior Annie Fesl is averaging 11.54 aps and six players are hitting over .200 led by freshman Becca Refenes' .579 hitting percentage. One of the reasons for UC's recent success is that the Bearcats are averaging just 4.0 errors per set over the last four matches compared to 6.4 errors per contest during the first 20 matches.
500, 500: While there are 15 players in school history that have eclipsed 1,000 career kills, only five have accumulated 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. Mid-way through her sophomore campaign, Missy Harpenau is halfway there as she recently reached 500 kills and 500 digs for her career. Through this point in her career, Harpenau has 524 kills and 579 digs.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: In the most recent release of NCAA statistics, two UC players rank in the Top 40 nationally in four statistical categories. Junior Annie Fesl leads the way ranking 10th in the country in assists per set (11.71), which also ranks first in the BIG EAST. Additionally, fellow junior Stephanie Niemer ranks in the Top 40 nationally in three statistical categories. Niemer ranks 20th in the nation in points per set (5.01), 23rd in kills per set (4.33 kps), and 35th in service aces per set (0.43 sa/s).
X-FACTOR: One of the keys to success for Cincinnati this season has been its serving. In wins, UC is averaging 1.60 service aces per set compared to just 0.79 sa/s in losses. In its 16 wins, Cincinnati has collected 88 of the team's 115 service aces and the Bearcats have recorded at least four service aces in 14 of its 16 wins. On the other hand, the Bearcats have tallied fewer than four service aces in five of its eight losses. In wins, junior Stephanie Niemer and sophomore Missy Harpenau have combined for 55 of the team's 88 service aces (62.5 percent).
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.