TicketsAug 31, 2013
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 3 MOREHEAD STATE (1-2) Rank: NR/NR |
Cincinnati, Ohio • Attendance: 479 |  1 CINCINNATI (0-3) Rank: NR/NR | |||||||||||||||
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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team (0-3) was handed its third defeat of the season on Saturday evening when they fell 3-1 to the Morehead State University Eagles (1-2) in Fifth Third Arena in the finale of the UC Invitational tournament. The Bearcats were paced by six freshmen who made their collegiate debuts over the weekend.
Collectively, the freshmen contingent of Kristin Conor (Lone Tree, Colo./Highlands Ranch), Mallory Blauser (Round Rock, Texas/Roud Rock Christian Adacemy), Ciara Hill (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook), Alison Kimmel (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North), Shelby Green (Dripping Springs, Texas/Dripping Springs) and Samantha Schrenker (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) totaled 26 kills, 26 assists, 25 digs and 2.5 blocks for the Bearcats.
Hill once again led Cincinnati with nine kills while Blauser added seven kills and nine digs. Junior Jamie Netisingha recorded a new career high with 26 digs to lead all players in the match.
Cincinnati picked up their first game victory of the season and evened the score at 1-1 in the second game when it combined for 11 kills and four blocks. The Bearcats jumped ahead early and rattled off four consecutive points, including two blocks by junior Me'Ashah Nicholson (Shiloh, Ill./Belleville Althoff) and sophomore Amelia Wegman (Aurora, Ill./Rosary), to take a 15-9 lead. The Eagles clawed to within three points at 23-20, but a MSU attacking error and a kill by Nicholson gave the Bearcats the victory. Nicholson paced Cincinnati in the game with three kills and two blocks while Hill also contributed three kills.
Morehead State took the first game by a score of 25-21. The Bearcats used kills by Nicholson, Wegman and two by Hill to take a 5-2 lead early in the game, but the Eagles rallied to tie the game at 6-6. The teams then traded points MSU put together four straight to jump ahead 15-13. Back-to-back kills grew the Eagles' lead to 22-18 and a UC error gave them the final point of the game.
The Eagles jumped out to an early lead in the third set and never looked back, taking the game 25-12 and claiming a 2-1 match lead. Redshirt freshman Alison Kimmel recorded two kills to lead the Bearcats in the game.
In the deciding fourth game, the Bearcats used a valiant effort to come from behind, but the Eagles ultimately came away victorious, earning a 25-23 victory and winning the match 4-1. Sophomore Morgan Allred (Carrolton, Texas/Hebron) served an ace and MSU had two errors to help the Bearcats tie the score at 13-13 and the teams continued their back-and-forth scoring until Morehead State went ahead 23-20 and hold for the victory.
The Bearcats are back on the court Sept. 6-7 at the Ohio Tournament in Athens, Ohio. On Friday the 6th they will face host Ohio University at noon and Dayton at 5 p.m. before playing North Carolina at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday the 7th.
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