TicketsSept. 10, 2011
HONOLULU - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team won their first five-set and longest (2 hours and 21 minutes) match of the season Friday evening in Honolulu after being down 0-2 (33-35, 18-25, 25-18, 25-17, 15-11). With the win, the Bearcats remain undefeated in the Verizon Volleyball Challenge and extend their winning streak to seven.
The win also was monumental in another way. The team broke the school record for most points scored in a five-set match with 116 points. This beats the previous record set by the 2008 team when they scored 113 points against Syracuse October 24.
The Bearcats were led by sophomore libero Emily MacIntyre (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) who had a career night, keeping 27 balls off the floor. This number beats her previous career high digs of 25. Freshmen Caylin Mahoney (Fort Worth, Texas/Keller Central) also recorded a career high in her double-double. She had 54 assists on the match and 10 digs.
Three Bearcats recorded double-digit kills: juniors Jordanne Scott (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) and Becca Refenes (Westland, Mich./Lutheran Westland) with 14 each and fellow junior Emily Hayden (Lousiville, Ky./Assumption) with 12. Hayden also led the team with a .417 hitting percentage. Both teams did well defending the net (both recorded 15 blocks). Refenes tied her career-high block assist number with 9, adding to a solo block to account for 5.5 of the 15.
Junior Megan Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) had the first kill in the fifth and deciding set at a score of 3-2 in the Bearcats' favor. Hayden and Scott added kills for a 7-6 lead. When the Bearcats reached 8, the teams switched sides and Rice called a timeout with the score at 8-6. After the timeout, Turner recorded a kill at 9-7. The Owls fought back to a tie score at 9 going into a timeout called by Cincinnati. Scott slammed down another kill in the middle to bring the Bearcats closer to the match win 11-10. Refenes and Mahoney teamed up for a big block to continue the Bearcats' run 13-10. With the match point, the Owls earned a point to bring the exciting fifth set to 14-11. The match ended with a kill from Scott.
Cincinnati started off the fourth set in the lead, a first in the match so far 4-3 with a Mahoney block. Just like the rest of the match, both teams fought hard to bring the score to a tie at 10. Cincinnati pulled ahead with a run to bring the score to 17-14 with kills from Senior Missy Harpenau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) and Refenes and nice digs from freshman Jamie Netisingha (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central). Harpenau added three more kills in a row to continue the run 20-14. She then teamed up with Hayden for a block 21-14. A long rally with great defensive touches from sophomores Brianna Richey (Tiffin, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudin) and MacIntyre ended in the Owls' favor, but still had the Bearcats ahead 23-17. Set four went to the Bearcats to force a fifth set 25-17.
Rice came out of the break into the third set wanting to win the match, the Bearcats made that tough by keeping the score close with two Turner kills 5-2. Refenes came up with a clutch kill and then teamed up with Harpenau for two blocks to bring the score to 9-7. The score remained close as the Bearcats fought for the tie score with kills from Mahoney and Scott 12-12. Rice was forced to call a timeout when the Bearcats pulled ahead with a Harpenau ace 15-12. Kills from Hayden and Turner kept the Bearcats ahead 20-16. Refenes combined with Mahoney for a straight-down rejection for another point 21-17. The Bearcats continued their run 23-17 thanks to another block from Harpenau. Set three went to the Bearcats 25-18 on a Refenes kill.
The score in the beginning of set two reflected the even play of both teams in set one. Scott added two kills right away for a score of 5-5. Head coach Reed Sunahara was forced to call a timeout when Rice went on a 4-0 run for a score of 9-5. Rice continued its efforts with a score of 13-8. Turner came in and delivered a kill and ace to pull the Bearcats closer 15-10. The Owls continued to dominate the Bearcats until Hayden came up with a kill at 21-13. Refenes then teamed up with Turner for a block to continue the Bearcats' hopeful run 22-16. The set belonged to the Owls of Rice 25-18. The loss could have something to do with a dismal -.100 hitting percentage, a rare occurrence for this team.
Scott earned the first two points for the Bearcats in set one with a kill and ace back to back for a score of 4-3 in favor of the Owls. After defensive efforts by MacIntyre and Harpenau and great block touches at the net, a long rally ended with another Scott kill to bring the score to a tie 9-9. Refenes added a kill and a block of her own to keep the score close 15-14 before the media timeout. Hayden slammed a ball down in front of the ten-foot line, followed by another kill similar by Scott to keep the Bearcats up 18-17. Juliana Behrens came up with a kill to bring the Bearcats close 22-21. With the Owls at set point, junior Karen Onuki (Troy, Ohio/Troy) had some nice digs combined with a Hayden kill and Harpenau/Scott block to pull the Bearcats ahead 25-24. The Owls fought back and the Bearcats ran out of subs to bring Onuki to the front row, not somewhere the 5'3" junior necessarily wanted to be. The Bearcats still managed to stay ahead with only two blockers 28-27. With only two blockers, Refenes and Mahoney combined for one to pull the Bearcats ahead 30-29. The score continued to go back and forth with each team earning set point several times. The set finally ended in the Owls' favor after almost 40 minutes by a score of 35-33. MacIntyre had an unprecedented 12 digs in set one.
The Bearcats, now 7-3, will finish their run and play in the final match of the Verizon Volleyball Challenge in Honolulu against host No. 12 Hawai'i at 7:00 p.m. HT. Updates will be available for those who wish to stay awake (match starts at 1:00 a.m. ET) on Twitter through @cincinnativball.