Volleyball Falls Short in Battle With #25 Cincinnati
9/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
CINCINNATI, Ohio - In the BIG EAST opener, the Seton Hall volleyball team twice pushed #25 Cincinnati to extra points before ultimately falling short in a 3-0 (26-24, 27-25, 25-17) decision. The Pirates (5-11, 0-1) are back in action on Sunday at Louisville, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Senior Sarah Osmun (Crystal Lake, Ill.) had a huge match for the Hall, totaling 17 kills and 10 digs. She is now just 16 kills shy of tying Jennifer Cheshire for first place on the school's career list.
Junior Meghan Matusiak (Winfield, Ill.) added eight kills and 12 digs, while sophomore Hannah Hugeback (Virginia Beach, Va.) had nine kills and 10 digs. Freshman Alyssa Warren (Joliet, Ill.) came up with 14 digs.
Stephanie Niemer, the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, had 20 kills and 10 digs to pace the Bearcats (12-3, 1-0). Emily MacIntyre posted 21 digs.
The Pirates grabbed an early 4-3 lead as Matusiak came up with three quick kills in the first set. Hugeback twice pushed the lead to two points with successful attacks, and Matusiak added another kill to make it 10-7. After the Bearcats worked their way to a 14-12 advantage, the Hall tied it up on a kill by Osmun and an attack error by Emily Hayden. The set continued to go back and forth, with Osmun giving the Pirates a 20-19 lead with a point, followed by three straight scores from Cincinnati. With the score knotted at 24, a kill by Niemer and an error from Hugeback let the Bearcats escape with the set one victory.
Playing from behind in set two, Osmun followed a point by Matusiak with two of her own to bring the Hall to within 20-19 and force a Cincinnati timeout. An attack error by Niemer evened the score, but she came back with a kill to put the Bearcats back in front. Osmun tied it at 21 on the next play before Niemer responded again, and a block by Cincinnati gave it a 23-21 edge. An Osmun kill and an error by Juliana Behrens made it 23-23, and the Pirates twice more tied the set on kills by Matusiak and Hugeback. But Niemer proved too much in the end, saving the Bearcats with two kills for a 27-25 win and a 2-0 advantage.
With momentum on its side, Cincinnati pulled ahead quickly in set three on its way to the win.
