University of Louisville
vs. Texas A&M<BR>(UM/Pepsi Challenge)
Volleyball Upset by Texas A&M at Michigan Challenge
September 05, 2003 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 5, 2003
ANN ARBOR -- No. 16 ranked Louisville fell 3-1 to unranked Texas A&M 3-1 in the first round of the Michigan Pepsi Challenge in Ann Arbor.
The Cardinals fall to 1-3 with the 30-22, 30-26, 28-30, 32-30 loss. Texas A&M remains unbeaten at 4-0.
"They are a good blocking team, like UCLA and it took a toll on our hitters," said U of L head coach Leonid Yelin.
The Cardinals were outblocked 14-5-8.5 and hit just .192 for the match although they notched eight aces. The Aggies hit .273. U of L's Sonja Percan had 29 points including 24 kills and four aces in the losing effort. Texas A&M's Laura Jones had 17 kills to lead her team to the upset.
In the first game, U of L hitters were thwarted by a big Aggie block. The Cardinals fell behind 14-6 in the early going and then the Aggies opened their lead to 11 at 25-14 and forcing a Cardinal timeout. Although U of L outscored Texas A&M 8-4 down the stretch it was too little, too late as the Cardinals fell 30-22
The second game was much tighter, with neither team able to build any kind of lead. After tying at 20, Texas A&M went on a three point runto go up 23-20 and Yelin called time out to make adjustments. Sonja Percan had three straight kills to bring U of L to within two at 26-24. The Cardinals were blocked for the next two points and U of L used its last timeout to try to stave the Texas A&M off. Bing Sun had a kill and Percan aced the Aggies to pull to 28-26. The Aggies ended the game with a kill by Beth Skypala.
The Cardinals seemed to fall into the same pattern of the first two games in the third set, falliing behind 22-15 and having to use a timeout to regoup. However, the adjustments worked as the Cards went on a 9-2 run and forced an A&M timeout. A Laura Jones kill put the Aggies back in the lead at 27-26 but the Cardinals answered with four points including the Ustymenko kill that sealed the game for U of L.
In the final game, U of L fell behind 16-8 when Tara Pulaski ripped an ace. The Cardinals seemed energized and reeled off five points, punctuated by a Zoya Filippova ace to pull to within two at 21-19. The teams traded points with U of L tying at 24 on an A&M miscue. The Cardinals took the lead at 27-26 on a Percan kill. U of L actually got to 30 points first but three straight points gave the match to the Aggies.
The Cardinals play Murray State at 4:30 Saturday as the Challenge continues.
