Volleyball Prepares for BIG EAST Championship

Nov. 14, 2012

Match Notes | BIG EAST Live Stream |

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team will travel to Milwaukee, Wis., for the BIG EAST Championship Nov. 16-18 on the campus of Marquette University. The Bearcats enter the tournament as the fifth seed and will face No. 4 seed University of Connecticut on Fri., Nov. 16 at 10 a.m. ET in the opening round.

The Bearcats enter the tournament with a regular season record of 11-18 and a 9-6 mark in conference play. In its last meeting against UConn on Oct. 12, UC jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage, but dropped the next two games before holding on for a 3-2 victory.

A total of eight teams qualified for the tournament, including top seeded No. 11 Louisville, No. 2 seed Marquette, No. 3 seed Notre Dame, No. 4 seed Connecticut, No. 5 seed Cincinnati, No. 6 seed St. John's, No. 7 seed Pittsburgh and No. 8 seed USF. The Bearcats are a combined 3-6 this season against teams that have qualified for the championship.

CONNECTICUT SERIES

Cincinnati had compiled an 8-1 all-time record against Connecticut, including a 7-1 record since becoming a member of the BIG EAST in 2005. The Bearcats won the last meeting 3-2 on Oct. 12, 2012. Jordanne Scott led the Bearcats with 19 kills and 12 digs while Emily MacIntyre added 36 digs to pace the defensive effort. Becca Refenes, Emily Hayden and Amelia Wegman also posted double-digit kills (14, 12 and 11, respectively) and Me'Ashah Nicholson added a career-high eight blocks.

ABOUT THE HUSKIES

UConn finished the regular season with a 19-11 record and a 10-5 mark in BIG EAST play. The Huskies, who were picked to finish 10th in the preseason coaches' poll, claimed the fourth seed in the tournament. It is the first appearance in the conference championship for UConn since 2009, when it lost to UC 3-1 in the opening round.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

The Bearcats have qualified for the BIG EAST Championship tournament each year since joining the conference in 2005, and are one of only three teams to accomplish the feat (Louisville and Notre Dame). Cincinnati has not been ranked any lower than fifth (of the eight teams) and has been seeded first or second in four of its eight tournaments. The Bearcats will be searching for their fourth straight trip to the BIG EAST Championship match. They won their first conference tournament title in 2011 and also have runner-up titles from 2009 and 2010. UC's volleyball championship title in 2011 was the first BIG EAST Championship win for the University of Cincinnati, in any sport.

Story Lines:

• Senior Jordanne Scott has recorded double-digit kills in all but three matches this season. Overall, Scott has hit in double digits in 42 of the last 45 matches, dating back to Oct. 18, 2011 vs. Western Kentucky. Scott's season-high kills for the 2012 season is 24 (one shy of her career-high) tallied on Sept. 23 against DePaul.
• In BIG EAST matches, Cincinnati ranks fifth with a .234 hitting percentage, fifth with 12.63 assists/set, fourth with 13.49 kills/set and seventh with 15.79 digs/set.
• In BIG EAST matches, Emily Hayden ranks fourth with a .351 hitting percentage. Jordanne Scott ranks second with 4.39 kills/set, Rachel Rohlfs ranks fourth with 10.27 assists/set, and Emily MacIntyre ranks third with 5.74 digs/set.
• Heading into BIG EAST Championship play, Scott has registered three consecutive double-double performances and has seven double-doubles this season. Senior Becca Refenes has recorded four while senior Rachel Rohlfs has three on the season.
• Four current players are ranked among the program's elite in nine different career statistical categories. Senior Emily Hayden is sixth in career hitting percentage with a .309 mark. Junior Emily MacIntyre sits at second in the record book with a 4.25 career digs per set clip and ranks third with 1,561 career digs. She also is on track to break the record for digs/set in a season with 5.26 and will currently rank second with 568 digs in 2012. Senior Becca Refenes is currently in sixth with 409 block assists. She also has 465 career blocks to put her at ninth. Refenes has played in 138 matches to rank second and 487 career sets to rank her seventh. Senior Jordanne Scott has recorded 1,605 career kills to rank her fifth in program history. She also ranks eighth with 3,599 total attempts and 10th with a 3.26 kills/set average. She has registered 341 block assists to rank ninth. Her 138 matches played rank her second while her 492 sets played rank her fourth. Scott also is on track to rank ninth with 4.37 kills/set during the 2012 season.

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