TicketsOct. 7, 2010
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The University of Cincinnati volleyball team returns home to Fifth Third Arena this weekend after sweeping a two-match road trip at St. John's and Connecticut. The Bearcats have won eight straight matches and are tied for first place in the BIG EAST Conference with Notre Dame at 4-0. DePaul comes into Friday's match vs. UC with an 0-4 record in league play and has lost nine straight. The Fighting Irish own a record of 11-5 overall and have won their last four over West Virginia (3-0), Pittsburgh (3-0), USF (3-0), and Georgetown (3-0).
DEFENDING OUR HOUSE With a three-set wins over Rutgers on Sept. 26, Cincinnati extended its home winning streak record to 34 matches. The previous school record for consecutive home wins was 23 matches, which spanned from Nov. 17, 2002 to Oct. 24, 2004. The Bearcats' current 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 No. 4 Penn State, the defending back-to-back-to-back National Champions.
"SETTING" UP FOR A RUN Since rallying from a 2-0 deficit to No. 5 Illinois and winning the final three sets on Sept. 17 in the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge, the Bearcats have won their last 21 sets in a row, tying for the second-longest streak in program history. The school record for the most consecutive sets won is 25 set between Sept. 22 - Oct. 18, 2000. Twice before in 1994 and 1996, the Bearcats have won 21 sets in a row.
THE SERIES WITH DEPAUL Sunday marks the 42nd meeting between UC and DePaul since the series began in 1978. Cincinnati owns a 26-15 lead in the all-time series and the Bearcats have won eight straight meetings over the Blue Demons.
THE SERIES WITH NOTRE DAME Friday is the 12th meeting between Notre Dame and Cincinnati with the Irish owning a 9-2 lead in the all-time series that started in 1987. Cincinnati won the last meeting in Fifth Third Arena, 3-1, in 2008 and is 2-0 vs. the Irish at home.
BEARCATS CLIMB THE AVCA RANKINGS After a pair of BIG EAST wins last weekend vs. St. John's and Connecticut, the Bearcats climbed one spot to No. 21 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. It is UC's third week in the poll. Before being ranked this season, the last time UC was ranked in the AVCA Top 25 on Nov. 17, 2003 when they were No. 23, three spots behind the all-time highest ranking of No. 20, the week prior. This is just the seventh time UC has appeared in the coaches poll since it started in 1982. UC owns a record of 15-3 this season, including a pair of wins vs. Top 25 squads. The wins vs. No. 16 Kentucky on Sept. 7 and No. 5 Illinois on Sept. 17 mark the first time in the program's 38-year history Cincinnati has knocked off two ranked teams in the same season. The 3-2 win over Illinois in the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge marks the highest-ranked team the Bearcats have beaten.
NIEMER PILING UP THE HARDWARE Senior outside hitter Stephanie Niemer was named BIG EAST Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the fourth straight time, the conference office announced Monday. Niemer earned BIG EAST Player of the Week honors after helping the Bearcats to conference wins last week at St. John's and Connecticut. The senior led the conference last week with 5.50 kills per set, including 12 kills at St. John's on Oct. 1 and 21 kills at Connecticut on Oct. 3. Niemer also had a .475 hitting percentage against the Huskies to go with six digs. The Erlanger, Ky., native finished the week with a .392 hitting percentage to complement 1.67 digs per set and 1.00 blocks per set. Niemer was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week for her performance at the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge on Sept. 17-18. In the upset of No. 5 Illinois, she notched her seventh double-double of the season with 28 kills and 15 digs, but it was in UC's three-set sweep of Purdue Niemer posted her strongest performance of the year, putting away a BIG EAST season-best 32 kills. It was her second 30-kill performance in Cincinnati's last three matches. She also totaled eight digs, three blocks, and two service aces vs. the Boilermakers.
BEARCATS PICKED TO WIN BIG EAST CONFERENCE 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 Bearcats earned 196 points, including 14 first-place votes, followed by Louisville with 176 points.
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.
UP NEXT Cincinnati hits the road again next week for more BIG EAST Conference action as it travels to arch rival Louisville (8-5, 3-1 BIG EAST) on Saturday, Oct. 16 for a 2 p.m. match.