University of Louisville
Syracuse
Volleyball Beats Syracuse in BIG EAST Opener
September 22, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2006
Svetlana Dukule had 15 kills to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-1 win over Syracuse in the BIG EAST volleyball opener of the season. U of L won 30-20, 20-30. 30-21, 30-19.
U of L moves to 7-5 and 1-0 in the BIG EAST, with Syracuse falling to 3-14. U of L outblocked SU 18-7 and hit .208 to the Orange's .097.
"When we are blocking well, it can frustrate our opponents and we showed a lot of hustle on defense." said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach.
In the first game, Syracuse built a slim lead at 9-7, but could not pull away from the Cards. Up just one at 18-17, U of L went on a 12-3 run to take the first game. The Cards hit .273 to SU's .140 and outblocked the Orange 3-0. U of L was led by Svetlana Dukule's five kills.
Syracuse regrouped and took an 11-4 lead in the second set. The Cards battled back with 5-1 run to come to within three at 22-19. But the Orange put together a 7-0 run to even the game score at one going into the break. U of L hit a frigid .025 in the game and had 11 hitting errors.
The Orange fell behind 10-4 early in the third game with the Cardinals pulling ahead by as many as nine at 18-9. Syracuse used both timeouts tyring to regain momentum. but .275 hitting by the Cards was enough fo push U of L to a 30-21 win.
Rui Liu came off the bench and notched three kills, seven digs and four blocks in the win.
U of L's height at the block and hitting began to wear the Orange down with SU falling behind 19-7 in the fourth game. The Cardinals got to game point on a kill by Yartseva Stewart and then took the match on a service ace.
U of L's Rui Liu came off the bench and had six kills, hitting .857 with six blocks.
