TicketsOct. 5, 2009
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team made a clean sweep of the BIG EAST Conference weekly awards as junior Stephanie Niemer (Erlanger, Ky./St. Henry) and freshman Megan Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) were named BIG EAST Volleyball Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively, the conference office announced today. The duo helped the Bearcats extend their home winning streak to 22 matches and improve to 3-0 in conference action after a four-set win over Pittsburgh and a sweep of West Virginia last weekend.
In matches against Dayton, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia, Niemer averaged 4.36 kps, 3.04 dps, and 0.45 bps. Niemer posted back-to-back kill-dig double-doubles with 22 kills and 13 digs at Dayton on Tuesday, Sept. 29, before coming back with 19 kills and 14 digs versus Pittsburgh. In addition to her double-double against the Panthers, Niemer collected a season-high five service aces which moved her into 10th place on Cincinnati's career service aces chart with 124.
Turner continued her stellar play with three consecutive double-figure kill performances during the week. She started the week with 10 kills and eight digs at Dayton, before recording 12 kills against Pittsburgh and 10 versus West Virginia. In conference play this past weekend, Turner hit .381 (22-6- 42) to lead all UC players.
This is the second time in Niemer's career that she has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week after earning the honor on Sept. 22, 2008. The Freshman of the Week honor is the first weekly honor for Turner in her career and it is the second Freshman of the Week honor for the Bearcats this season after Jordanne Scott earned the selection on Sept. 7.
Cincinnati prepares for an important weekend of conference play as it travels to Notre Dame on Saturday, Oct. 10 for a 2 p.m. match-up, before traveling to Chicago on Sunday, Oct. 11, for a 3 p.m. meeting with DePaul. Saturday's match between the Bearcats and the Irish pits the two remaining unbeatens in BIG EAST play.