College of Charleston
Cincinnati
Cougars Raise Championship Banner, Beat Cincinnati 3-1
9/11/2010 2:14:00 AM | Volleyball
The four-set victory is the first in program history over Cincinnati.
"I can't be happier with what we did tonight," said Head Coach Jason Kepner. "Cincinnati is an outstanding team and we did what we talked about, we touched a lot of balls on the block. I'm very proud of the team for getting the win, and I'm not really sure what to say."
Whitney Russell led the Cougar attack with 23 kills and 13 digs, while on defense four different CofC players had at least four blocks.
After CofC (7-2) took a 22-16 lead in the first set Cincinnati (7-2) stormed back and went on a 5-0 run to close to within one point. The Bearcats would not score again in the set as back-to-back kills from Russell and junior Sarah Havel and a block from the duo sealed the 25-21 victory.
The Cougars would take a 2-0 lead into the break, but Cincinnati came out strong in the third set and narrowed the match to 2-1. Not wanting to go to five sets, the Cougars scored the first five points of the fourth set with a Havel ace and two of the teams 12 blocks. Cincinnati didn't go away without a fight, but in the end Whitney Russell closed out the game and match with a kill.
Cincinnati came into this match with a 7-1 record after beating No. 16 Kentucky at Tuesday night.
Kepner said his team is learning how to consistently play at a high level.
"We made a lot of big-time plays tonight to give ourselves a chance to win," he said. "We have the ability to play at a high level, we just have to get this team to consistently play at that high level. Tonight is one step close to this team's goals and to beat Cincinnati here at home is a great start to this weekend."
The Cougars continue play with two matches tomorrow, beginning at 1p.m. against Auburn and then their finale against Oregon State.
