TicketsOct. 25, 2013
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 3 CONNECTICUT (11-12, 2-6 AAC) Rank: NR |
Storrs, Conn. • Attendance: 370 |  2 CINCINNATI (0-22, 0-8 AAC) Rank: NR | ||||||||||||||||||
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STORRS, Conn. - Sophomore Morgan Allred (Carrolton, Texas/Hebron) hit a career-high 22 kills and freshman Shelby Green (Dripping Springs, Texas/Dripping Springs) collected a career-high 29 digs but the University of Cincinnati volleyball team fell 3-2 (25-27, 18-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-13) at the University of Connecticut on Friday evening. Both Allred's and Green's numbers were match highs.
"The team fought hard tonight and fought together as a full entity" said head coach Molly Alvey. "We have certainly had our struggles this season, but nothing is going to put us down. The players continue to fight and continue to get better each week. Tonight came down to a couple of volleyball plays short of a victory.
"Morgan Allred and Shelby Green played an amazing match" said Alvey. "They each brought a much-needed confidence to our young team. We also had great play off the bench in key moments off the bench."
Cincinnati led Connecticut in most statistical categories, including kills (57 to 54), assists (55 to 51) and digs (72 to 68).
Allred combined her career-high 22 kills with 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. Green's 29 digs were a career-high and match-high and represented the most digs a Cincinnati player has recorded since Emmi MacIntyre collected 36 against the Huskies on Oct. 12, 2012. Freshman Kristin Conor (Lone Tree, Colo./Highlands Ranch) led all players with 48 assists while junior Me'Ashah Nicholson (Shiloh, Ill./Belleville Althoff) recorded eight blocks to lead the Bearcats.
The Bearcats jumped out to an early 2-0 match lead after winning the first two sets. In the opening set, UC employed a comeback after facing a UConn match point at 24-22. A block by Nicholson and Conor and an attack error by the home squad tied the score at 24-24 and the teams traded points to get to 25-25. Another block, this time by Conor and freshman Breanna Barksdale (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake), and a kill by freshman Ciara Hill (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) gave the Bearcats the 27-25 victory.
In the second set, Cincinnati fell behind early but used three separate scoring runs of at least three points to take a commanding lead. The Bearcats finally jumped ahead by scoring five consecutive points to go ahead 22-17. Allred had two kills and Barksdale added another during the run and another kill by Allred, her eighth of the game, brought the final score to 25-18.
The third set saw UConn score four straight points to close the set after UC took a 23-21 lead. Two blocks, a kill and a Cincinnati attack error contributed to the run and gave Connecticut a 25-22 victory. Conor dished out 10 assists in the set to lead the Bearcats.
The Huskies evened the match score at two games apiece after winning the fourth game 25-16. UConn used mini-runs of three or four points on four separate occasions and held the momentum throughout the duration of the game. Cincinnati kills by Hill and freshman Samantha Schrenker (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) postponed two UConn set-points, but a kill by Madeline Kuppe gave the Huskies the win and forcing the match into a deciding fifth set.
A kill by Allred pushed the Bearcats ahead to an 11-9 lead in the final game, but UConn responded with six of the next eight points to win 15-13.
-GoBEARCATS.com-