Thursday, November 22, 2001
XU-UC volleyball showdown
prelude to NCAA tourney
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's an odd week for Xavier's volleyball team, which last weekend clinched an NCAA Tournament berth but has two more regular-season matches.
“We were talking about motivation,” XU coach Floyd Deaton said, “and one of my players said, "There's UC.'”
As in, knocking rival Cincinnati off the tournament bubble. The Bearcats (20-7) need to fare well this weekend in Louisville — facing Dayton (21-6) Friday and XU (25-3) Saturday — to further their case for an at-large selection.
“Part of our motivation is (UC) is going to have to earn it,” Deaton said.
That grudge match will make quite a finish for arguably the strongest year ever in local volleyball:
XU is in the NCAAs for the first time. UC is nearing a third consecutive bid. Northern Kentucky University (28-5) reached the NCAA Division II regional semifinals. Mount St. Joseph (31-7) reached the Division III national quarterfinals. St. Ursula beat Ursuline in the Ohio Division I state final; Roger Bacon won state in Division II.
“Volleyball in general is so good in this area,” UC coach Reed Sunahara said. “I guess the pressure's on us now to do our part.”
UC ran off 16 consecutive victories earlier this fall, the longest win streak in school history. It had three players named All-Conference USA: Bonita Wise, Becky Stahl (freshman of the year) and Trish Ladusaw (defensive player of the year).
UC entered the C-USA Tournament ranked first in the Midwest Region but missed out on an automatic bid. Last year, in the weekend after C-USAs, UC beat Tennessee and played Florida tough to help secure an at-large bid.
UC hasn't played XU since 1999 and has lost three straight to the Musketeers.
XU won its first Atlantic 10 title and has won 17 of its last 18 matches, ranking third among those also receiving votes for the Top 25. Senior Sara Bachus (Seton) repeated as A-10 player of the year, and Molly Martin was named both rookie of the year and setter of the year. Jill Hampton (Notre Dame Academy) and Katey Wygant also made all-conference.
“They play so well together,” Deaton said. “There's times the best thing I can do is not get in their way.”
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