Renfrow's Triple-Double Leads Volleyball to 3-2 Defeat of Cincinnati in BIG EAST Opener

Sept. 22, 2006

MILWAUKEE - Behind a complete team effort Friday night at the Al McGuire Center, the Marquette volleyball team rallied, down 2-1, to defeat Cincinnati, 3-2 (30-21, 31-33, 28-30, 30-25, 15-10), in its first game of the BIG EAST season. Junior Monica Renfrow led the Golden Eagles with a triple-double, and junior Kimberley Todd registered a season-high 28 kills in the victory.

"I think our bench made a huge difference in today's win," said head coach Pati Rolf. "Brown, Pierce, up and down our support was great. We are seeing balance. The girls overcame the jitters early and used their energy and it really paid off."

Renfrow tallied 11 kills, a career-best 58 assists, and 12 digs for the first triple-double of her career.

"This win means everything for us," said Renfrow. "We wanted to come in, knowing Cincinnati was ranked third in the preseason, and we wanted to prove that Marquette volleyball is for real. Louisville is a big game for us now. We had great practices this week and are ready to come out with this momentum on Sunday."

The teams were separated by not more than two points early in game one until the Golden Eagles took the lead by three on a kill by senior Nicole Wallace, ahead 10-7. An attack error by the Bearcats on the next point increased the MU lead to four, forcing a timeout by UC.

Marquette continued to build its momentum after the break, increasing its lead to six at 16-10 on back-to-back blocks by senior Jamie Mueller, and then to eight at 22-14 on a smash by Todd. Wallace, Todd and freshman Leslie Bielski formed a wall to combine for a block on the next point, extending the MU lead to nine.

The Bearcats used their second timeout at that point, but once again, the Golden Eagles took advantage of the break, increasing their lead to 10 on a Cincinnati hitting error, and then to 11, their largest of the game, on a kill by Todd.

UC would get as close as seven at 27-20 and 28-21, but an attack error by the Bearcats on the game's final point sealed the frame for the Golden Eagles, 30-21.

Todd and Mueller each recorded five kills in the game to lead Marquette to a 35.6 hitting percentage. Cincinnati was held without a block after entering the game as the nation's leader in blocks per game (4.21).

The Bearcats bounced right back in game two, taking a commanding eight-point lead, 16-8, to start game two, forcing an early timeout by the Golden Eagles.

Out of the break, Marquette slowly began to scrap their way back into the game, down just four at 18-14 on a kill by Bielski, completing a 6-2 run. Renfrow soon tied the game, 20-20, on a smash down the line to cap the MU comeback.

The teams traded points before a block by Mueller and junior Tiffany Helmbrecht gave the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game, 24-23.

At that point, the game again went back and forth before the Bearcats found themselves with game point, ahead 29-28.

Despite surviving three game points on two kills by Mueller and one by Todd, Marquette was unable to grab the victory as Cincinnati won, 33-31, to tie the match, 1-1.

The Golden Eagles came out strong to start game three, scoring the first four points to force an early timeout by the Bearcats. Todd connected with consecutive kills out of the break to complete a 6-0 before UC was able to get on the board.

It was an up and down battle for Cincinnati from then on as the Bearcats cut the Golden Eagles' lead to two at 11-9, fell back down five at15-10, and then were back within two again at 21-19. UC climbed all the way back, tying the game at 23-23 and 25-25 before taking its first lead of the game at 26-25, forcing MU to use a timeout.

Out of the huddle, the teams traded points before Cincinnati found itself with game point at 29-26. Marquette survived till 29-28, but a kill by the Bearcats ended the game, 30-28, giving them a 2-1 lead in the match.

Todd led the Golden Eagles with eight kills in the frame.

After four ties and two lead changes that left the teams knotted at 4-4 to start game four, MU went ahead 10-4 following a 6-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back kills by Mueller.

In the midst of the run, UC called a timeout and rallied to cut the lead to two at 14-12.

The Golden Eagles maintained the lead, however, going on a 6-2 run that featured Renfrow's 10th kill of the game to give her the triple-double. Up 20-14, Marquette held Cincinnati at bay, leading by no less than four points as the Bearcats used their second timeout, down 25-19.

Despite surviving two game points, UC would not get closer than four after the break as Todd won the game, 30-25, with a kill, and tied the match, 2-2.

Todd led the Golden Eagles in kills for the fourth-straight game, registering six.

In the pivotal game five, Cincinnati scored the first four points before taking a 6-2 lead that forced a timeout by Marquette.

Todd connected for two kills after the break to cut the MU deficit to two, and after a hitting error by UC on the next point, the lead was down to one as Cincinnati used a timeout.

The Golden Eagles tied the game after the huddle, but the Bearcats answered with two-straight points, forcing Marquette to use its second timeout down 8-6 as the teams switched sides.

After a minutes rest, MU went on a 3-1 run and tied the game at 9-9 on a kill by Mueller. UC used the second of its two timeouts at that point to try and defuse the rally, but Mueller came calling again with another smash to give the Golden Eagles the lead at 10-9.

Marquette continued its run of seven consecutive points to take a four-point lead at 13-9, and then capped the match victory with an ace by Renfrow, finishing the frame, 15-10.

Mueller finished with 21 kills and 24 digs for her 12th consecutive double-double. Bielski led the Golden Eagles with seven blocks and Todd added 13 digs to go along with her 28 kills for her seventh double-double of the season.

Junior Jenny Custer led the Bearcats with 18 kills.

"Cincinnati is going to be a great team all the way through the conference," added Rolf. "This is a significant win for us not only to start out 1-0 in the BIG EAST, but to also have some momentum going into the Louisville match."

Marquette returns to The Al, Sunday, at 2 p.m. when it faces Louisville in a live telecast on ESPNU.