TicketsNov. 17, 2010
PROTECT THIS HOUSE: With a three-set win over Villanova on Oct. 31, Cincinnati finished 2010 undefeated (11-0) at Fifth Third Arena and extended its home winning streak record to 39 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.
SETTING UP A RUN: The Bearcats are currently on a nine-match winning streak that dates back to Oct. 19 at Western Kentucky and includes six three-set victories. The last match Cincinnati lost was on Nov. 16 at Louisville, a match in which the Bearcats squandered a 2-0 set lead. When the Bearcats rallied from a 2-0 deficit vs. No. 5 Illinois and won the final three sets on Sept. 17 in the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge, they began a 29-set winning streak, breaking the record for the longest streak in program history. UC broke the school record on Oct. 10 vs. Notre Dame and extended the streak to 29 at Louisville on Oct. 16 before losing the third set. The previous school record for the most consecutive sets was 25, set between Sept. 22 - Oct. 18, 2000.
FESL 5K: Senior setter Annie Fesl became just the second player in Cincinnati history to top the 5,000-assist mark during the Bearcat's win over DePaul on Oct. 9. Laura Lauder (2000-03) holds the all-time UC mark with 5,946 assists.
HAY DAY FOR HAYDEN: Sophomore Emily Hayden recorded an .800 hitting percentage (12 kills and no errors on 15 attempts) in Cincinnati's three-set win at Marquette on Nov. 14, which set a new team-high for the season. After playing in her 150th career set on Oct. 16 in the fifth stanza at Louisville, Emily Hayden became eligible for Cincinnati's all-time hitting percentage list. Her career .322 clip is currently good for fifth all-time.
ABOUT THE BULLS: With a 10-16 overall record, South Florida made the eighth seed in this weekend's BIG EAST Championship with a 6-8 conference mark. The Bulls are led by Allie Boaz (3.25 kills per set), Mariana Thon (9.37 assists per set), Janice Rivera (4.13 digs per set) and Andrea Rodriguez Gomez (0.85 blocks per set).
THE SERIES WITH USF: Friday's match-up with USF will be the 21st meeting between the two schools with Cincinnati holding an 11-9 edge in the series after the Bearcats defeated the Bulls on Oct. 23 at Fifth Third Arena and twice in 2009, recording 3-0 wins on Nov. 8 `09 in Tampa, Fla. and on Nov. 21 `09 in a BIG EAST Conference tournament semifinal match in Louisville, Ky.
BEARCATS CLIMB THE AVCA RANKINGS: After defeating Syracuse on Nov. 12 and Marquette on Nov. 14, the Bearcats moved up to No. 18 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. The No. 18 ranking is highest in school history. It is UC's ninth straight week in the poll. It is the longest streak for a BIG EAST team since St. John's made 10 straight appearances in the poll in 2007. 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 previous 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 26-4 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: Stephanie Niemer won her record sixth BIG EAST Conference Player of the Week accolade on Nov. 1, becoming the first player in league history to win six player of the week awards in one season. Niemer, a senior outside hitter, became the first player in BIG EAST Conference history to win conference Player of the Week honors in five consecutive weeks (Sept. 13-Oct. 11). When Niemer hit her second ace in Cincinnati's match at Marquette on Nov. 14 in the third set, it marked her 191st career service ace, which tied the all-time program mark with Becky Tenkman (1995-98). The Erlanger, Ky. native became the first player in BIG EAST Conference history to be named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week after 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 UC's last three matches.
UP NEXT: If Cincinnati advances to the second round of the BIG EAST Championship, it will face the winner of the Villanova vs. Notre Dame match on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 1 p.m at Fitzgerald Field House on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.