TicketsOct. 14, 2011
LOUISVILLE - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team could not stop the Cardinals of Louisville as the team lost in straight sets Friday evening (26-24, 25-19, 25-11).
The Bearcats were led by junior Emily Hayden (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) on her literal homecoming. The middle hitter recorded 8 kills on 19 swings for a .316 percentage.
The Cardinals used an outside-dominant offense in BIG EAST Pre-Season Player of the Year and the last three BIG EAST Player of the Week honoree Lola Arslanbekova who recorded 15 kills on 32 swings.
Cincinnati sophomore libero Emily Macintyre (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) led the match with 15 digs. Freshman Caylin Mahoney (Fort Worth, Texas/Keller Central) set up the Bearcat attack with 25 assists.
The Bearcats came out fighting in set three with kills from juniors Becca Refenes (Westland, Mich./Lutheran Westland) and Hayden. The team was still behind though 10-7. The Cardinals went on a 7-3 run to increase their lead 17-10, even with kills from juniors Megan Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) and Jordanne Scott (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North). Louisville would use the serve of Kaitlynn James to go on a 8-0 run to finish the set and the match 25-11. The Bearcats' offense struggled this set with a -.222 hitting percentage as a team.
The second set started similar to the first, with all the momentum in Louisville's favor. Even kills from Hayden and Scott could not get the Bearcats ahead at 11-6. Another kill from Scott kept the deficit at five points 15-10. Kills from Hayden and senior Missy Harpenau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) and an impressive defensive effort by MacIntyre brought the Bearcats closer to a tie 19-17. The Cardinals took the second set for a 2-0 advantage 25-19.
The Cardinals used four Cincinnati hitting errors for a quick 7-3 lead before Turner and Refenes put two down for a score of 9-6. Refenes and Mahoney then teamed up for a block of Louisville's best hitter to start momentum for the Bearcats. Defensive plays from MacIntyre, junior Karen Onuki (Troy, Ohio/Troy), and Harpenau led to an 11-10 score. Louisville was forced to call a timeout after Hayden put down a kill to bring the Bearcats' first lead of the match 17-16. Mahoney then recorded two kills to increase the lead 20-17. Momentum shifted to the Cardinal side as they scored three points in a row after long rallies for a 23-22 lead. The teams traded points up until the last point of the set when the Cardinals ultimately claimed the win 26-24.
The Bearcats will return home to Fifth Third Arena and take a break from conference play Tuesday, October 18 when they take on Sun Belt Conference favorite Western Kentucky at 7:30 p.m.