TicketsAug. 30, 2010
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - In the final match of its four-match, four-day West Coast Swing, the University of Cincinnati volleyball team closed out the trip with a bang sweeping UC Santa Barbara, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-18), Monday evening. The win upped the Bearcats record to 3-1 on the season, while the Gauchos fell to 1-2.
Senior Annie Fesl continued to distribute the ball evenly and led Cincinnati to a .344 team hitting percentage in the three-set sweep. Senior Stephanie Niemer led all players with a match-high 13 kills en route to a .423 hitting percentage, and Niemer was one of four UC players to hit over .400 for the match.
The Gauchos and Bearcats were neck-and-neck early in the opening set before UC used a six-point run to widen a one-point lead to a seven-point lead at 15-8. Cincinnati's sophomores were at the heart of the spurt as sophomore Jordanne Scott put down a kill and assisted on a block, sophomore Becca Refenes added a service ace, and sophomore Megan Turner capped off the run with a kill of her own. After UCSB cut the Cincinnati lead to five points at 16-11, the Bearcats put the set out of hand by taking seven of the next eight points to take a 23-12 cushion and eventually captured the opening set, 25-17.
After falling behind 3-2 early in the second set, UC used a kill by senior Stephanie Niemer to kick start a run that was capped off by a block from the duo of Niemer and Scott that reversed a deficit into a 7-3 lead forcing a Gauchos timeout. Out of the timeout, Cincinnati went on a series on short runs to eventually widen its lead to as much as nine points at 20-11. After a junior Missy Harpenau kill moved UC's lead to 24-16, UCSB rallied off four straight points to close its deficit to 24-20, but a Gauchos attack error closed out a 25-20 second-set triumph for the Bearcats.
Out of the intermission, five different Bearcats helped score six of the first seven points of the third set as Cincinnati jumped out to a 6-1 lead. The Bearcats held at least a four-point lead for most of the remainder of the set until the Gauchos cut the lead to three on two occasions. However, each time UCSB cut the deficit to three, UC went to Niemer who delivered a pair of kills to widen the lead back to four points. Late in the third set, a four-point rally widened a 19-15 lead to 23-15 and the lead held as UC closed out a 25-18 third-set win.
The Bearcats finished the match with eight blocks compared to just one for the Gauchos and Cincinnati forced UCSB into 19 attack errors en route to a .168 hitting percentage. Alongside its solid blocking, UC was led by freshman Emily MacIntyre with a match-best 13 digs.
The Bearcats are set to play in front of their home crowd for the first time this season when they welcome James Madison, Kent State and Murray State for the Bearcats Invitational Sept. 3-4 in Fifth Third Arena. Cincinnati's first match of the tournament will be at 7:30 p.m. against Kent State on Friday, Sept. 3. The Bearcats enter their home tournament with a 28 match winning streak at home, the second longest home winning streak in the country.