University of Louisville
SAINT LOUIS * (SAAC Support Day)
Volleyball Sweeps Saint Louis
October 23, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2004
The University of Louisville Cardinal Volleyball team swept the Saint Louis Billikens 30-16, 30-19, 30-21 in volleyball action Saturday afternoon in Cardinal Arena.
Led by Lenda Ustymenko's 10 kills and 9 digs, the Cardinals improved their record to 17-2 on the season, remaining undefeated against conference foes at 7-0, while the Billikens drop to 10-12 and 2-4 in conference action.
"We have to focus on every match we play, especially at home," said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach. "Any loss can hurt your regional ranking which is the most important thing come seeding times."
In the first game, the Cards took an early 11-5 lead on the strength of a .258 to -.161 hitting advantage, forcing Saint Louis to call timeout.
From there, the Cardinals continued to use superior hitting to extend their lead to 23-12, forcing another timeout by the Billikens. The Cards Steph Marsh led U of L with 7 kills in that game.
The Cardinals again jumped on the Billikens early in game 2, scoring 10 of the first 14 points to force another early timeout by Saint Louis. U of L would not let up from there as they scored 9 of the next 12 points, four of them on kills by Anastasia Yartseva to lead 19-7 and force Saint Louis to use their last timeout.
Following the timeout, Saint Louis tried to get back in the game, going on a 7-2 run to close the gap to 21-15. But it was not to be for the Billikens as the Cards went on to win the game by again dominating their competition in hitting percentage, .333 to .047.
U of L got off to another strong start in game 3, taking an 11-3 lead in the early going, and eventually led 18-12 before Saint Louis called timeout.
Saint Louis was forced to call their final timeout after the Cardinals took a 25-16 lead on a kill by Svetlana Dukule. Even though Saint Louis scored three of the next four points, the Cards were able to put the Billikens away.
The Cardinals will continue in conference action Sunday afternoon as they take on the Memphis Tigers at 2 p.m. in Cardinal Arena.
