Cincinnati Volleyball Drops NCAA Heartbreaker

Julie DuPont

A two game to none lead went by the wayside as the Cincinnati Bearcats bowed out of the NCAA volleyball tournament in heartbreaking fashion, dropping a five-game decision to Central Florida on Thursday night.

UC charged out to a two game advantage, but couldn’t withstand the UCF comeback in falling by scores of 24-30, 25-30, 30-26, 30-27, 15-9. The Bearcats end the year with a 27-6 record while UCF advances to the second round with a mark of 23-6.

Julie DuPont had a near triple-double for the Bearcats, scoring 21 kills to go along with 14 kills and seven blocks. Rachel Torblaa added 14 kills and nine blocks, while Myanna Hellsten (12 kills) and Leslie Newell (11) both reached double-digit kills in the match. Maria Pongonis’ return to the line-up was a bit of a rocky one as she had just four kills on -.094 hitting.

Emily Watts led three UCF players in double figures, knocking down a match-best 25 kills and adding 18 digs. Tanya Jarvis added 18 kills, while Amanda Stoutjesdyk tacked on 15.

After hitting .447 in the first frame, the Bearcats tailed off to .212, .135, .074 and .053 in the final four frames. Lindsey Garrison led the defense with 26 digs, while the Bearcats registered 14 blocks for the match. Laura Lauder handed out 53 assists in the final match of her collegiate career.

“I thought we started off good and later made good adjustments,” said Bearcat head coach Reed Sunahara. “But UCF made good adjustments and took away our best shot. They are a well coached team. In the last three games, they were just unstoppable.”

The Bearcats never trailed in the first game, hitting .447 for the frame in taking the 30-24 victory. UC started off strong jumping to a 4-1 lead and never looking back, despite the valiant effort of the Golden Knights. The Bearcat lead steadily increased throughout the first frame, growing to as much as eight.

Leading by three at 20-17, UC got a Pongonis kill and two straight by DuPont to open the advantage to 23-17 and force the first UCF timeout. After the break, the Bearcats scored five of the next eight points to open the eight-point cushion. The Knights scored three straight points that squelched the Bearcats’ momentum, but Newell answered with a kill that got UC to within game point. After a UCF point, Torblaa and Pongonis combined on a block that closed out the first stanza.

DuPont led the way for UC in the first game, tallying a game-high six kills on an incredible .857 hitting. Newell hit .800 with four kills, while Torblaa also tacked on a trio. Lauder dished out 15 assists in game one.

Game two was a battle early on, with the score tied eight times before either team reached 10 points. UCF took the lead at 10-9 on a Mitchell kill and followed that with six of the next seven points to open a five-point lead at 15-10.

The Bearcats responded to the spurt with a 6-1 run that tied the score at 16. DuPont came up big during the span with a pair of blocks and a kill. The teams traded points to a 20-all tie. Torblaa sandwiched a pair of kills around a Knight error that gave UC a 23-20 advantage.

The Bearcat lead didn’t last long thanks to three consecutive UCF points that knotted the game at 23 and forced Sunahara to call UC’s second timeout. UC came out of the break quick, getting two Torblaa blocks and a kill that forced a Knight stoppage in play. After the timeout, UC got kills by Torblaa, DuPont and Hellsten to close out the game two win by a 30-25 count.

Following a solid hitting performance in game one, the Bearcats dipped to .182 in game two, despite pulling out the victory. Torblaa led the Bearcats with five game two kills, giving her nine, matched only on the squad by DuPont’s nine. Hellsten added four in the frame to give her seven for the match. Defensively, UC limited the Knights to .139 hitting in the game and added five blocks to give them eight for the contest.

UCF got off to a fast start in game three, scoring the first four points and forcing an early Bearcat timeout. The Knights continued to pull away from the Bearcats, utilizing their own kills, with numerous UC errors to build a lead. The Golden Knights held a 17-8 advantage when the Bearcats took their second timeout and UC seemed to come to life following the stoppage. The Bearcats chipped at the UCF advantage scoring 11 of the next 18 points to get to within four at 24-20 and force a Golden Knight timeout.

But the Bearcats could get no closer than three points on a pair of occasions, as UCF pulled out the 30-26 triumph. The Knights blitzed the Bearcats on the game three stat sheet, holding a .310 to .135 hitting advantage. DuPont had six kills in the game to raise her total to 15, while Torblaa added a pair. Watts scorched the Bearcats for nine kills in the game to raise her total to a match-high 18.

The Bearcats trailed nearly all of game four, before making a late charge to retake the lead. UC fell behind by as much as six, but on the strength of a 5-0 run, was able to take the lead at 23-22. The advantage quickly vanished as five UCF points in the next six pushed them ahead 27-24. The Bearcats got kills by DuPont, Newell and Hellsten, but that wasn’t enough as a Stoutjesdyk kill.

UC hit just .074 in the game, with UCF not much better at .175. DuPont had five kills in the frame to lead the Bearcats while Jarvis led all players with six.

The deciding game was all UCF as they raced to a 5-1 lead and never faltering in the 15-9 win. UCF limited the Bearcats to just .053 hitting in securing the victory.

Game Notes
• With her first kill of the match, Julie DuPont became UC’s single season kill leader. DuPont has 624 for the season and breaks a first place tie with Cathy Guye who had 603 kills in 1990.
• With 21 kills tonight, Julie DuPont moved into third place on UC’s career kills list, passing Chrissy Smith who had 1,546 from 1994-97. DuPont now has 1,564 for her career.
• Julie DuPont moved into third place on the Bearcats’ career attack attempts list in tonight’s match. DuPont has 3,895 attempts for her career, breaking a tie with Sonja Jackson who racked up 3,839 from 1984-87.
• With nine blocks tonight, Rachel Torblaa now holds sole possession of ninth place on the Bearcats’ career list. She has 366 for her career, topping Brenda Grube’s 357 from 1980-83.
• Julie DuPont’s 56 attack attempts give her 1,482 for the season, the most ever by a UC player.
• Lindsey Garrison moved into fifth place on UC’s single season digs list with 26 tonight, giving her 471 for the season.