TicketsNov. 14, 2009
CINCINNATI - Junior Stephanie Niemer (Erlanger, Ky./St. Henry) collected her ninth kill-dig double-double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs and led the University of Cincinnati volleyball team to a 3-0 win over the University of Connecticut Huskies Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena. The win extended the Bearcats home winning streak to 26 matches and upped the Bearcats record to 21-9 overall and 11-2 in BIG EAST Conference action.
Junior Annie Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) put together an impressive all-around performance dishing out 30 assists, while adding three aces and six digs. The 30 digs moved Fesl over the 4,000 assist plateau for her career making her just the third UC player to reach that milestone joining Noel Olsen and Laura Lauder.
Three kills by sophomore Missy Harpenau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) and a pair of kills by Niemer helped the Cincinnati offense get off to a great start in the opening set as the Bearcats jumped in front, 8-3. After a Rebecca Murray kill brought Connecticut within one point, 13-12, three Huskies errors coupled with another Harpenau kill widened the UC margin to five points, 17-12. Leading 23-19, Harpenau put down her fifth kill of the set before a kill by freshman Megan Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) kill closed out a 25-19 opening-set triumph.
Connecticut hung with the Bearcats in the second set and eventually took a four-point lead on five occasions, with the last at 19-15, before three kills by Niemer and a pair of UConn attack errors brought the Bearcats within one point, 21-20. A freshman Jordanne Scott (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) kill to the deep left corner tied things up at 22, before a kill by Harpenau and consecutive aces by Fesl sealed the 25-22 come-from-behind win.
UC came out of the 10-minute intermission and used its block to take an early lead. The Bearcats blocked three attacks by UConn and Scott was in on all three helping Cincinnati take a 7-4 advantage. A service ace by Fesl, a kill by Niemer, and three kills by freshman Emily Hayden (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) widened the Bearcats lead to five, 19-14, forcing the Huskies to use their second timeout of the set. A junior Lindsay Upton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) ace closed out the 25-16 third-set win sending UC to its 10th home win of the season.
Scott registered nine kills and had four blocks on the evening, while Hayden had seven kills en route to a .636 hitting percentage. Harpenau fell one kill shy of her 13th kill-dig double-double of the season with nine kills and a match-high 13 digs.
UC completes its regular-season on Sunday, Nov. 15, when it welcomes St. John's to Fifth Third Arena for a 2 p.m. contest.