TicketsAug. 27, 2010
SAN DIEGO - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team outblocked the University of Northern Colorado 13.0 to 4.0 and used double-digit kill performances from three players to defeat the Bears, 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16), in its season opener Friday night in the initial match of the Aztec Invitational hosted by San Diego State University.
After Northern Colorado tied the match at one set apiece with a 25-23 second-set win, UC bounced back with a 25-23 third-set win of its own behind BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, senior Stephanie Niemer, who connected on six of her 11 kills during the third set to pave the way for the four-set triumph.
Sophomore Jordanne Scott and junior Missy Harpenau each tallied a team-best 12 kills, while sophomore Becca Refenes registered five kills and a career-high 10 total blocks.
"I'm happy with the victory but we need to get better as the tournament progresses," said head coach Reed Sunahara. "We did some good things out there and look to build off that tomorrow."
Three of Niemer's four aces came in the first four points of the match pushing the Bears back on their heels early before two Scott kills and a kill by sophomore Megan Turner quickly put UC in control, 9-2. For the remainder of the set, the Bearcats held at least a six-point advantage and eventually pushed their lead to double-digits at 24-14 before a block by Turner and Refenes cemented a 25-17 first-set win.
In the second set, UC took a 2-0 lead but Northern Colorado bounced back to take its first lead of the match and held onto that lead until a block by Refenes and Niemer precluded a Turner kill that put UC back in front, 12-11. Late in the set, a pair of Northern Colorado miscues put Cincinnati in the driver's seat at 22-20, but the Bears rallied to knot the set at 23 and unfortunately for UC, a serving error followed by a Northern Colorado block gave the Bears a 25-23 second-set triumph, evening the match at one set apiece.
Out of the intermission neither team was able to create separation from one another as the score remained tied as late as 19-19. Consecutive Northern Colorado errors gave UC a two-point cushion, 21-19, but the Bears fought within one point four times before Harpenau ended thoughts of a Bears comeback with a kill that gave the Bearcats the 25-23 third-set victory.
Leading two sets to one, Cincinnati used an early five-point spurt to double up Northern Colorado, 10-5. Learning from its mistakes in the second set, UC slowly built upon its lead and did not allow the Bears to muster up a rally as it finished off a 25-16 fourth-set win.
Senior Annie Fesl led the Bearcats to a .277 hitting percentage and dished out 42 assists. Fesl fell just shy of her first double-double of the campaign with nine digs.
With the win, Cincinnati improved to 25-13-1 all-time in season openers and extended its winning streak to eight matches in season openers.
The Bearcats return to the floor on Saturday, Aug. 28, when they close out the Aztec Invitational with matches against Cal State Northridge and tournament host San Diego State. UC meets Cal State Northridge at 1 p.m. EDT, before closing its tournament at 10 p.m. EDT against San Diego State.
The evening match against the Aztecs will be streamed live through http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/10-aztec-invite.html.