TicketsSept. 9, 2011
HONOLULU - The University of the Cincinnati volleyball team continued its streak to six wins with a victory over the Pacific Tigers 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-22) in Honolulu for the first match of the Verizon Volleyball Challenge.
Cincinnati has never beaten Pacific before today, with their last meeting being in 2007. The Bearcats were led by junior Jordanne Scott (Indianapolis, Ind. /Lawrence North) with 10 kills and 2.5 blocks. Sophomore Emily MacIntyre (Muncie, Ind. /Yorktown) continued to be a leader in the back row as she was the only player in the match to record double-digit digs with 14. Freshman Caylin Mahoney (Fort Worth, Texas/Keller Central) continued to run the offense as she led the match with 33 assists. She also recorded 4 kills and a 1.000 hitting percentage.
Cincinnati started the third set right with an ace in the back corner from Mahoney to make the score 4-2. Junior Emily Hayden (Louisville, Ky. /Assumption) added a kill to keep the score in the Bearcats' favor 6-4. Junior Becca Refenes (Westland, Mich. /Lutheran Westland) added to the already impressive defense at the net with a block with Mahoney and Scott got an ace to keep the Bearcats ahead 10-6. Kills from Hayden, Scott and Harpenau added to the Bearcats' lead 17-9. The Tigers of Pacific began coming closer to a tie with a score of 19-14 and a Bearcat timeout. Scott then came around from the back to the middle for a kill and Refenes teamed up with Mahoney for a block to push the Bearcats farther ahead 21-15. A booming kill from junior Megan Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) brought the Bearcats closer to match point 22-17. The Tigers did not stop fighting as they got closer to the Bearcats' score 23-21. The third set and the match ultimately went to the Bearcats with a score of 25-22.
The Tigers started the second set strong with a 5-1 lead over the Bearcats. After several hitting errors, the Bearcats were forced to call a timeout at 8-2. Hayden and Harpenau each put down a kill to get the Bearcats closer 10-4. Harpenau got another kill flying out of the back row 10-5. A kill from Scott and an ace from Turner kept the Bearcats alive 15-12. Scott and Harpenau blocked a ball on the outside which was kept in play by the Tigers, but she then ran to the right side and teamed up with Turner for a block that turned into a point at 17-16. Thanks to two kills from Scott, the team went on a run to pull ahead for the first time in the set 19-17 going into a Pacific timeout. Scott continued to lead set two at the net with yet another block with Turner to put the Bearcats closer to set point 22-20. A Turner kill got the Bearcats that set point 24-21. Pacific fought back like they did in set one to bring the score to 24-23. A Turner kill ended set two 25-23.
The first set started with the Bearcats ahead 8-5 thanks to kills from Hayden, Scott and Harpenau. An ace from Scott pulled the Bearcats even farther ahead 10-6. Another Harpenau kill kept the Bearcats ahead of the Tigers 15-11. A nice combo run on the backside resulted in a Hayden kill at 18-14. An overpass from Pacific came over the net, but Mahoney intercepted it and came up with a rare hit that turned into a kill and point for the Bearcats 20-15. She followed that up with another kill to make the score 21-16. Yet another overpass by Pacific resulted in a Refenes booming kill on the 10-foot line. The Tigers fought back to bring the score to 24-22. The set ended with a Hayden kill 25-22. The Bearcats hit an overall .379 in the set led by Refenes and her .600 percentage.
The Bearcats will continue its run in the Verizon Volleyball Challenge in Honolulu tomorrow night against the Owls of Rice University at 5:00 p.m. HT. Also, look for more videos from the first half of the trip when the Bearcats got to experience Hawai'i to the fullest.