TicketsAug. 26, 2010
BACK ON THE FLOOR: An experienced 2010 UC volleyball team will hit the floor on Friday, Aug. 27, as 10 letterwinners lead the Bearcats on a four-match, four-day West Coast swing to open the 2010 campaign. Friday night's match vs. Northern Colorado kicks off the Aztec Invitational, where Cincinnati will also face Cal State Northridge and San Diego State on Aug. 28, before UC rounds out the trip at UC Santa Barbara on Monday, Aug. 30.
ABOUT THE AZTEC INVITATIONAL FIELD: San Diego State welcomes UC, Northern Colorado, and Cal State Northridge to Southern California for the 2010 Aztec Invitational. UC and Northern Colorado both advanced to the NCAA Tournament a season ago with the Bears earning the automatic bid from the Big Sky Conference. Similar to Cincinnati, San Diego State earned preseason votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll and looks to improve upon a 14-15 mark from a year ago despite listing nine freshmen on its roster. Despite an 8-22 record a season ago, Cal State Northridge returns a talented group of underclassmen led by sophomore Britney Graff, who wound up second on the team in kills and was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.
THE SERIES WITH THE FIELD: Cincinnati owns a 2-0 record all-time against Cal State Northridge and will be meeting Northern Colorado and San Diego State for the first time in program history. Both meetings against Cal State Northridge have come in the past five years with the Bearcats downing the Matadors in four sets at the Waikiki Beach Marriot Challenge in Hawai'i in 2005, before taking a straight sets victory in 2008 at the Arizona State Sheraton Invitational.
UP NEXT: Following its three-match tournament in San Diego, the Bearcats head up to Santa Barbara, Calif., to take on UC Santa Barbara on Monday, Aug. 30 at 10 p.m. ET. UC Santa Barbara enters the season with 51 votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll, just two votes behind Cincinnati. The match can be viewed through Gametracker on www.GoBEARCATS.com.
SEASON OPENERS: When Cincinnati plays Northern Colorado, UC will look to improve upon its 24-13-1 all-time record in season openers. The Bearcats have won seven consecutive season openers.
LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Senior Stephanie Niemer was one of 30 NCAA women's volleyball student-athletes selected as candidates for the first-ever Lowe's Senior CLASS Award® in volleyball. The award is sponsored by Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, and is managed by Premier Sports Management. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Lowe's will announce the Senior CLASS Award® winners during the 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December. The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches, and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character, and competition.
BEARCATS PICKED TO CAPTURE BIG EAST CROWN: After finishing in a tie for first place and a tie for second place in the BIG EAST Conference regular-season standings in 2008 and 2009, respectively, the University of Cincinnati volleyball team was forecasted to continue that trend in 2010 after being unanimously picked to finish first by conference coaches in the annual BIG EAST Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll. The votes were cast by the league's 15 head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own teams. The Bearcats earned 196 points, including 14 first-place votes, followed by Louisville with 176 points. Notre Dame was pegged third with 161 points, while Marquette earned 158 points to place fourth. Pittsburgh, USF, Seton Hall, and Syracuse were slotted in that order to round out to Top 8.
TRIO EARNS ALL-PRESEASON BIG EAST CONFERENCE ACCOLADES: Alongside UC being picked to win the 2010 regular-season title, senior Stephanie Niemer became the first UC player to be selected BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and was one of two players to be unanimously selected for the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team alongside Louisville sophomore outside hitter and reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Lola Arslanbekova. In 2009, Niemer was an American Volleyball Coaches' Association Honorable-Mention All-America selection, an AVCA All-Northeast Region recipient, and took home first-team all-BIG EAST honors while ranking among conference leaders in kills per set, aces, and points per set. In addition to Niemer, senior Annie Fesl and junior Missy Harpenau also earned All-BIG EAST Preseason Team recognition. Fesl was a first-team all-conference performer in 2009, while Harpenau was an AVCA Honorable-Mention All-Northeast Region and second-team all-BIG EAST selection.
DEFENDING HOME: With a three-set wins over Miami (OH) on Nov. 28, Cincinnati extended its home winning streak to 28 matches. The previous school record for consecutive home wins was 23 matches, which spanned from Nov. 17, 2002 to Oct. 24, 2004. The Bearcats' home winning streak dates back to 2007, where Cincinnati won its final two home matches of the season, before going a perfect 14-0 at home in 2008 and 12-0 in Fifth Third Arena in 2009. The Bearcats own the second longest home winning streak in the country, trailing only the No. 1 team in the country and back-to-back-to-back National Champions Penn State. Below are the three longest home winning streaks in the country.
Team.................. Home Court Consecutive Home Wins
Penn State ........... Rec Hall............................. 72
Cincinnati ............. Fifth Third Arena................. 28
North Dakota St. .. Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse... 19