Bearcats fall to Cardinals in Big East Tournament final

In a hunt for the Big East Tournament title, the University of Cincinnati volleyball team fell short, losing to the Louisville Cardinals 3-1 in the championship match Sunday, Nov 22.

In its first championship appearance, UC outshot Louisville 157-136 and recorded seven more kills, however the Bearcats also had 37 errors.

“We didn’t play well,” said UC head coach Reed Sunahara. “We had opportunities [but] we didn’t capitalize and we didn’t execute.” 

The Bearcats kept up with the Cardinals at the beginning of the first two sets, but couldn’t find a way to break away with the lead and lost both sets 25-22 and 25-21.

“We [needed] to execute on a higher level,” Sunahara said. “We [were] hitting balls out and not making smart plays.”

UC came out strong after the intermission to win the third set 25-22, but the Cardinals rebounded and took the fourth set 25-20 to win the match.

Junior Stephanie Niemer and freshman Jordanne Scott led the Bearcats putting up 17 and 15 kills, respectively.

Despite the loss, the Bearcats continue to show signs of improvement, as their second place finish in the tournament was their best since joining the Big East in 2005.

The eight-team tournament kicked off Friday Nov. 20, and the Bearcats road to the championship game was paved with dominating wins against Connecticut and South Florida.

In the quarterfinals, the Bearcats took on the seventh-seeded Connecticut Huskies Friday, Nov. 20, and won 3-1 with set victories of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-17.

The Bearcats were led by Niemer who put up 15 kills and 10 digs recording her 10th double-double of the season.

Freshman Emily Hayden also played well posting 13 kills.

The win over the Huskies advanced the Bearcats to the semifinals where they made quick work of South Florida, Saturday, Nov. 21, taking all three sets with scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-17.

The offensive duo of Niemer and Hayden continued to put up impressive numbers with Niemer posting a match-high 16 kills and Hayden putting up 10 kills.

Scott led the team defensively putting up a match-high eight blocks.

Next up, the Bearcats finish regular season play hosting Miami (OH) Saturday, Nov. 28.

Cincinnati’s 24-9 overall record will also likely get them an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament starting Dec. 3.

“It’s in the hands of the [selection] committee,” Sunahara said. “Hopefully they’ll respect what we’ve done.”