TicketsNov. 26, 2010
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BEARCATS CLEAN UP BIG EAST AWARDS: Head coach Reed Sunahara was named the 2010 BIG EAST Coach of the Year, while senior outside hitter Stepanie Niemer was unanimously tabbed the BIG EAST Player of the Year. It was Sunahara's second coach of the year award since Cincinnati joined in the BIG EAST in 2005, previously winning the distinction in 2008. Senior setter Annie Fesl and sophomore middle blocker Jordanne Scott also joined Niemer on the First-Team All-BIG EAST. The accolade marked the second year in a row that Fesl made the first team after making second team her sophomore season. It was the first such honor for Scott.
BEARCATS CLIMB THE AVCA RANKINGS: After dropping a match to Louisville on Nov. 21 in the BIG EAST Championship match, the Bearcats fell from No. 18 to No. 22 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. The No. 18 ranking is highest in school history. It is UC's 10th straight week in the poll, 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 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.
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: Prior to losing to UofL on Nov. 21 in the BIG EAST Championship match, the Bearcats were on an 11-match winning streak that dated back to Oct. 19 at Western Kentucky and includes nine 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.
HAY DAY FOR HAYDEN: Hayden recorded a .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, sophomore MB/RS Emily Hayden became eligible for Cincinnati's all-time hitting percentage list. Her career .331 clip is currently good for fifth all-time.
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. She 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 an ace in Cincinnati's match vs. South Florida on Nov. 19, it marked her 192nd career service ace, which broke the all-time program record previously held by 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: The NCAA Volleyball Championship Selection Show airs on Sunday, Nov. 28, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNEWS