TicketsNov. 30, 2010
By Shawn Sell
GoBEARCATS.com
If the storylines seem the same, it's because they are. If the faces look familiar, it's because they are. But as the UC Volleyball team prepares for NCAA Tournament action in Champaign, Illinois this weekend, one thing is hopefully going to come out differently in the Bearcats' favor and that is the end result of the trip west.
Just two years ago after a three-year absence from the tournament, the Bearcats earned an NCAA at-large bid to play at the University of Illinois. The Bearcats' first round opponent in 2008? Western Kentucky. The site of this year's first and potentially second round action for the Bearcats? The University of Illinois. And the first round opponent? Western Kentucky. And lets not forget, UC has already faced (and beaten) both of these teams in 2010, including a stunning five-set triumph over then-No. 5 Illinois in the biggest win in program history. So is head coach Reed Sunahara surprised at the scenario his team drew?
"Illinois was the last place I thought we would go," he admits. "But it is what is and we have to make the best of it. We play Western Kentucky and they are a good team and we have to be ready for them."
The match-up with Western Kentucky is sure to be a competitive and hard fought battle as the Lady Toppers have developed into one of the Bearcats' biggest regional rivals. Revenge will likely be on the minds of WKU, a yearly opponent for the Bearcats since 1997. UC has had the Toppers' number though, winning all but one of those meetings and nine in a row. To make it 10 straight, Sunahara says defense and serving will be the keys to victory.
"We have to play good defense," he says. "If our blocking is good and our defense is good then I think good things will happen. We also need to serve tough and pass the ball a lot better than we did the last time we played them."
While Sunahara won't allow himself or his team to look past an outstanding Western Kentucky team, it is no secret that the Bearcats have been dreaming of the program's first ever berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 since the preseason. According to Sunahara, the lofty goal was the product of UC's senior class.
"The seniors and the team met and set the Sweet 16 as a goal of theirs," he says. "They felt this was a good year as we have the talent and personnel to do it. Hopefully, it comes through and if it does we get to take Myanna back home."
Myanna is assistant coach Myanna Hellsten, a native of Austin, Texas, which will be the destination of whichever team emerges from this weekend's action in Champaign. While Hellsten's homecoming is two victories away, fellow Sunahara aide Erin Virtue will get to return to her collegiate roots this weekend as she was a standout setter at Illinois. And what would make this whole situation perfect?
"The only other thing that would make this compete is if the Final Four was in Hawaii," Sunahara, a native Hawaiian, jokes.
All kidding aside, Sunahara is very serious about what it will take for his team, led by senior co-captains and All-BIG EAST first team selections Annie Fesl and Stephanie Niemer, to make their dreams come true.
"We have to be consistent," he says. "The last couple of matches we weren't very consistent. Luckily, we won against Miami (Ohio) but it showed against Louisville that when we aren't consistent a lot of not so good things happen. We just have to take care of the ball better and have better focus and determination."
While the Bearcats' goals are staring them right in the face with NCAA Tournament action starting on Friday, the storylines are once again lining up as familiar. By weekend's end, UC hopes to write a new story, with a different ending; one that reads "Bearcats Sweet 16 Bound!"