TicketsNov. 10, 2013
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 3 HOUSTON (16-12, 8-5 AAC) Rank: NR |
Cincinnati, Ohio. • Attendance: 616 | 0 CINCINNATI (1-26, 1-12, AAC) Rank: NR | ||||||||||||
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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) to the University of Houston on Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena. Junior Me'Ashah Nicholson (Shiloh, Ill./Belleville Althoff) led the Bearcats with 12 kills and a .526 hitting percentage, the highest of the season for a Cincinnati player recording at least 10 kills.
Nicholson added three blocks to her efforts to go along with three blocks from both redshirt freshman Alison Kimmel (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) and freshman Samantha Schrenker (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community). Freshman Kristin Conor (Lone Tree, Colo./Highlands Ranch) paced the Bearcats with 15 assists while freshman Shelby Green (Dripping Springs, Texas/Dripping Springs) and junior Jamie Netisingha (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central) each tallied 10 digs.
The Bearcats and the Cougars were in a tight race to open the first game, but Houston pulled ahead and won 25-19. Cincinnati could not stop Houston during a 5-0 run in which the Cougars took a 16-10 lead. The Bearcats tried to mount a comeback, scoring four out of five points to pull to within 18-16, but only managed one point the rest of the way. Junior Nicholson had four kills in the set to lead UC while junior Madi Lang (Commerce Township, Mich./Florida Atlantic) dished out eight assists.
Cincinnati used a kill by sophomore Amelia Wegman (Aurora, Ill./Rosary) to take an 8-5 lead in the second set, but four straight Bearcats' errors allowed the Cougars to climb back into the game and go ahead 9-8. The score remained close until a 5-1 Houston scoring run gave the Cougars a 20-15 lead and forced head coach Molly Alvey into a timeout. Back-to-back kills by UH freshman, and three-time American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week, Sarita Mikals closed out the set at 25-19 and put UC in an 0-2 hole heading into the intermission.
In the third game, Houston stormed out of the gate, taking a 9-3 lead and forcing Cincinnati into an early timeout. The Bearcats fought back with a four-point run, including a kill by Nicholson and a block by Nicholson and sophomore Morgan Allred (Carrolton, Texas/Hebron) to get within 14-11, forcing a UH timeout, but Houston answered with scoring runs of their own. The Cougars closed out the set by a score of 25-17.
The Bearcats next head to the Sunshine State with two matches at USF and UCF. Cincinnati will matchup with the Bulls at 7 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 15 and will face off against the Knights at 2 p.m. on Sun., Nov. 17.
-GoBEARCATS.com-