Bearcats Earn First Tourney Win, Beating Xavier, 3-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 30, 2001
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cincinnati used four players in double-figure kills to earn its first NCAA Tournament win, 3-1 decision over crosstown rival Xavier in first round action Friday night at St. John Arena on the campus of Ohio State. The Bearcats’ win by scores of 30-27, 30-27, 17-30, 30-28 was their first in four tourney trips and upped their record to 23-7. Xavier finished its season 25-6 after reaching the tournament for the first time in school history.
“The monkey’s off our back,” said head coach Reed Sunahara, who guided the Bearcats to their third-straight NCAA appearance. “They showed why they’re the Atlantic 10 champs and we were lucky to beat them, especially to beat them twice in a row.”
Game one saw 12 ties and no run of more than four points. Neither team gained more than a two-point lead until a 3-0 run gave the Musketeers a 20-16 advantage on a Katey Wygant kill and two UC errors. After a timeout, the Bearcats scored six of the next eight points, tying the game at 22-22 on a Trish Ladusaw kill. The teams traded one-point leads until two Becky Stahl kills keyed a 4-0 run to give UC a 29-25 lead. Xavier saved two game points before Julie DuPont won the game with her sixth kill of the frame. Bonita Wise and Stahl each recorded five kills in the game and Ladusaw had four digs as UC outhit XU .333 to .205. Sara Bachus led the Musketeers with six kills.
The second stanza was more of the same, as there were eight ties before either team reached double-digit points. With the scored tied at nine apiece, UC went on a 5-2 run to go ahead, 14-11. Xavier used consecutive kills by Kimberly Cockerel, Bachus and Jill Hampton to knot the game at 16-16. The final tie of the game came at 23-23, after which a Stahl kill and block by Ladusaw and Rachel Torblaa put the Bearcats ahead for good. Xavier hit .359 in the game with Bachus earning seven kills, but Stahl’s eight kills and no errors led UC to a .366 hitting percentage. The Musketeers went ahead 3-1 in game three and never let UC back in it. The Bearcats cut the lead to one point five times before a 7-2 run gave XU a 17-11 lead. The Bearcats scored the next three points to cut into the lead, but Xavier finished off the frame by scoring 13 of the next 16 points. Wygant had four kills to lead a Musketeer attack that hit .318 with only three attack errors. The Bearcats were held to -.019 hitting, committing 12 errors. Wise and DuPont combined for eight of UC’s 11 kills and Ladusaw had eight digs.
UC jumped on top 8-2 in game four, led by Ladusaw’s three kills and an ace. The Musketeers used a trio of three-point runs to cut the advantage to 15-11, but the Bearcats steadied, with Ladusaw picking up three of UC’s next four kills. The Musketeers hung in and Amanda Lang’s two blocks and kill led a 6-1 run that tied the game at 27-27, but consecutive XU errors gave UC the match.
“Even after a let down (in game three), we came back hard,” said Sunahara. “Our freshmen (Stahl, DuPont and Rachel Torblaa) played well, but they also made freshman mistakes and our experienced players picked them up.”
Wise finished with a match-high 18 kills, with DuPont adding 17 and Stahl 16. Ladusaw picked up 12 digs and 11 kills, including six in game four. Laura Lauder had 51 assists and 12 digs.
“Hopefully we’ll get some more respect now,” added Sunahara. “I’ve been here three times with this team and tonight was our night to finally get one.”
For Xavier, Bachus finished with 17 kills and 11 digs, Hampton had 14 kills and 24 digs and Wygant recorded 12 kills, 10 digs and nine blocks.
The Bearcats go on to face the winner of the match between Robert Morris and 13th-seeded Ohio State on Saturday at 7 p.m.
