Cincinnati Volleyball: Catch The Fever

If you follow me on twitter, which you totally should, you would know a couple days ago I made it my business to be followed by Cincinnati Volleyball. I've written before about my love for women's volleyball at the college level, and I'm going to write about it again right now. Why? Because the Bearcat ladies are kicking ass, not taking names because they are too busy kicking ass. I guess they already took names when the schedule came out, so there would be no need to take names twice. I digress. The Bearcats also have one of the best players in the history of volleyball, Stephanie Niemer. Bearcats Blog, that's a little outrageous. I mean best in the history of volleyball? That's right. She is the first person I've ever heard of to be named the CVU.com, and the Sports Imports/AVCA player of the week. In my eyes, and in yours, that makes her the best player you've ever heard of. Notice anything in this picture of Ms (I'm guessing) Stephanie Niemer?

#4. The same number as the legendary Kenyon Martin. Not only does Steph, I call her that now because we are bffs, wear the number of legend, but she plays like the volleyball K Mart. That also shows that her respect for the history of Cincinnati athletics is unbridled. Plus, look at that look of intimidation she's serving to the other squad. That's straight up "I'm going to spike the ball into your face, biatch." She says biatch because cussing is unnecessary and unladylike. It's not really. Deb Morgan on Dexter might weigh 84 lbs, but she gains hotness by cussing like a sailor. I'm sure Stephanie only cusses when necessary. She probably doesn't need to when she's hammering spikes on the opposition. That speaks for itself. I want to see her in action I bet you are thinking. That picture at the top? That's her crushing one home for an ace or a kill.

The Bearcats great play this season has been rewarded by getting a place in the top 25. This is only the fifth time Cincinnati has ever been ranked, so it's kind of a big deal. They haven't been ranked in 7 years. A lot of the credit goes to the players, but also to this man.

Does the UC coach Reed Sunahara rock Hawaiian shirts for the matches? Fuck yes he rocks Hawaiian shirts for the matches. What did you expect? The esteemed coach has the best record in Cincinnati history. He has coached for 10 years. His best move? Obviously it was recruiting the best player in the world. His second best? Recruiting Julie Guenther. What's so special about Julie? She went to the home of everything good and right with the world, Badin High. She probably only went to Badin because I had gone there and she wanted to follow in my footsteps, and that's probably the same reason she's at Cincinnati. To be frank, that's a little weird Julie. Stop stalking me 5 years too late. I would put a picture of her on here, but Bearcats Blog doesn't endorse stalking.

The Bearcats Blog endorses kicking the ass of the opposition, even though the Bearcats Blog does not do it, and that's just what the volleyball team did last night. They were tired of schooling squads in the Queen City, so they took a bus to Morehead, Kentucky to face the mighty Morehead State team. They were so pumped up by the fact that they started following me on twitter, that they rushed out to a 15-6 lead. I'm sure the esteemed coach Sunahara's speech went a little something like this.

"Ladies, the road to Morehead was long and kind of boring. We went to Walmart to try and kill time because this town sucks. I know you are all feeling a bit down. I have some great news though. Today, the official Bearcats Volleyball twitter started following @theucbearcatsblog. Hey, hey, hey, calm down. Stop jumping up and down and popping bottles of champaign. Now take this pure joy of accomplishing something great, and accomplish something greater on the court tonight. Let's not let that guy down."

Pretty sure that was verbatim. Cincinnati swept the 3 games, winning 25-17, 25-15, 25-19. Stephanie Niemer was the star, of course, with 18 kills, 6 digs, 4 blocks and a service ace. Her shot percentage was an outstanding .567. UC had a team percentage of .369, while MSU was a horrible .102. Annie Fesl had 32 assists, 13 in set two when Morehead starting making a comeback. This could or could not be her.

That was a typical night for an awesome club. The ladies take on the losers from Seton Hall Friday night and Sunday afternoon. The road to being Big East champions starts then. I'm along for the ride, are you? That's a trick question because if you read the blog you are technically along for the ride if I write about it. Anyway. Congrats to the Bearcats, congrats to Stephanie Niemer my bff, and good luck on the road to glory.