TicketsSept. 12, 2014 PDF Box Score
KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team put on an impressive performance in the opening match of the Art Carmichael Invitational on Friday morning to beat Rutgers University 3-1 (25-20, 25-14, 21-25, 25-11).
The Bearcats were clicking on all cylinders in the match and held the Scarlet Knights to a .099 attacking percentage, the lowest for a UC opponent since Oct. 21, 2012 when UC kept Syracuse at a .055 clip. Cincinnati topped Rutgers in most statistical categories on Friday, including kills (57 to 40), hitting percentage (.271 to .099), assists (53 to 37), digs (84 to 58) and blocks (12.0 to 7.0).
Rutgers is playing its first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference, a perennial volleyball powerhouse league. The win was the first over a Big Ten school for Cincinnati since beating Purdue and No. 5 Illinois in 2010.
KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team put on an impressive performance in the opening match of the Art Carmichael Invitational on Friday morning to beat Rutgers University 3-1 (25-20, 25-14, 21-25, 25-11).
The Bearcats were clicking on all cylinders in the match and held the Scarlet Knights to a .099 attacking percentage, the lowest for a UC opponent since Oct. 21, 2012 when UC kept Syracuse at a .055 clip. Cincinnati topped Rutgers in most statistical categories on Friday, including kills (57 to 40), hitting percentage (.271 to .099), assists (53 to 37), digs (84 to 58) and blocks (12.0 to 7.0).
Rutgers is playing its first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference, a perennial volleyball powerhouse league. The win was the first over a Big Ten school for Cincinnati since beating Purdue and No. 5 Illinois in 2010.
// Notables
- With the win, Cincinnati improves to 4-3 on the season while Rutgers falls to 4-3.
- Cincinnati and Rutgers were playing their first non-conference match against each other since Sept. 13, 1996 when the Bearcats beat the Scarlet Knights 3-0 as part of the Rutgers Invitational in Piscataway, N.J. Both teams were members of the BIG EAST Conference from 2005-2012 and joined the American Athletic Conference together in 2013.
- The Bearcats improve their overall record against the Scarlet Knights to 13-1 and have now won 11 straight matches in the series.
- Head coach Molly Alvey mixed up the starting lineup prior to the match with redshirt junior Caitlin Ogletree (Montgomery, Texas/Montgomery), sophomore Lindsey Dinkelacker (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Louis) and freshman Cortnee Bowser (Kent, Ohio/Theodore Roosevelt) all earning their first start of the season.
- Senior Jamie Netisingha (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central) had a banner night, recording a career-high 30 digs with a career-high six assists. It is the first time a UC player has recorded 30 or more digs since the 2012 season.
- Junior Emma Roberson (Brooks, Ky./Evansville) tied a career high with 19 kills and also added four blocks, the most in her Cincinnati career.
- Ogletree made the most of her first-career start, tallying career-highs in assists (41), digs (16) and blocks (2) to notch her first-career double-double.
- Bowser totaled a career-high 10 kills with a .467 hitting percentage. She also added a career-high four blocks.
- Dinkelacker tallied a career-high 11 digs.
- Freshman Macie Pifer (Euclid, Ohio/Beaumont) tied a career-high with 11 digs.
- Cincinnati saw four players record double-digit kills for the first time since Nov. 27, 2013 with Roberson (19), Bowser (10), senior Me'Ashah Nicholson (Shiloh, Ill./Belleville Althoff) (10) and sophomore Ciara Hill (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) (10).
- Cincinnati saw four players record double-digit digs for the first time since Nov. 29, 2013 with Netisingha (30), Ogletree (16), Pifer (11) and Dinkelacker (11).
// Set Breakdown
Set 1: UC 25, RU 20
- The Bearcats trailed 8-6 early on before rattling off six consecutive points for a 12-8 lead. Roberson tallied two kills during the run while a kill by junior Morgan Allred (Carrolton, Texas/Hebron) and a solo block by Bowser also pushed the Bearcats into the lead.
- Rutgers fought to re-tie the score at 15-15 and took a 16-15 lead following a kill by Eden Frazier.
- A kill by Roberson and a block by Bowser and Hill broke a 19-19 tie and put the Bearcats ahead 21-19, forcing a Scarlet Knights timeout.
- Cincinnati scored four unanswered points to win the game 25-20 on a kill by Hill.
- Roberson led all players with six kills in the set.
- The Bearcats held the Scarlet Knights to a .043 hitting percentage in the set.
Set 2: UC 25, RU 14
- Bowser and Roberson led the Bearcats to an early 4-0 lead. Each recorded a kill and then combined on a block to put UC ahead.
- The lead extended to 11-4 after a kill by Hill and a kill and block by Nicholson.
- The Bearcats scored in bunches, connecting on one four-point scoring run to go ahead 18-8 and another to lead 22-10.
- A kill by Allred on an assist from Ogletree gave UC the victory.
- The Bearcats out-hit the Scarlet Knights 16 kills to 6.
- Cincinnati recorded five blocks during the game.
- Roberson again led all players with six kills in the game.
- The Scarlet Knights used a four-point run to go ahead 10-6 in the match and never looked back. RU held a four or five point lead throughout the set and won 25-21.
- UC could not build momentum during the game. The Bearcats were only able score more than one point at a time on three occasions and never scored more than twice per rotation.
Set 4: UC 27, RU 11
- After being forced into a fourth set, Cincinnati closed the game on a strong note, holding Rutgers to just 11 points.
- Cincinnati hit .480 in the final game compared to .000 for RU.
- Seven straight points for the Bearcats led to an 11-4 lead and a Scarlet Knights timeout. Allred notched two kills during the run and Hill added a service ace.
- Three straight kills by Roberson (2) and Bowser gave Cincinnati a 17-6 advantage.
- An Attack error by Rutgers gave UC the 25-11 win in the set and the 3-1 match victory.
// Alvey's Additions
"We played a great match today" Alvey said. "Emma Roberson, Me'Ashah Nicholson and Cortnee Bowser all played great, but everybody really did what they were supposed to do. We got some great production out of our middle blockers and Me'Ashah gave us some big senior plays. Overall, we played a very balanced match and got a big win over a Big Ten team which is exactly what this program needs to be doing."
// Up Next
Cincinnati plays its second match of the Art Carmichael Invitational tonight at 7 p.m. against the host University of Rhode Island. URI is 6-0 on the season and has only lost two sets this year.
// Follow the Bearcats
For all of the latest information on Cincinnati volleyball, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up to the minute updates, follow Cincinnati Volleyball (@cincinnativball) and Coach Alvey (@CoachAlveyUC) on twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Facebook and Instagram.
// Ticket Information
Season tickets for all 15 home matches can be purchased for as little $10. For more information, visit GoBEARCATS.com/tickets or call 1-877-CATS-TIX.
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