University of Louisville
Notre Dame (BIG EAST Semifinal)
Volleyball Sweeps Notre Dame to Gain BIG EAST Final
November 17, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2007
Tatyana Kolesnikova had 16 kills and three blocks to lead the University of Louisville to a three-game sweep of Notre Dame in the semi-final match of the BIG EAST Tournament Saturday in Milwaukee, Wisc. The Cardinals gained the finals and will play the winner of the St. John's/South Florida match for the Tournament crown and the league's automatic bid.
U of L improves to 22-5 with the 30-25, 30-20, 30-27 win. Notre Dame ends its run at 14-13. The Cardinals hit .363 and outblocked the Irish 13-4, led by Lecia Brown's seven. Louisville had two other players in double digit kills with Svetlana Dukule recording 14 kills and three blocks. Jana Matiasovska had 12 kills and three blocks. The Irish were led by Adrianna Stasiuk's 15 kills and nine digs.
"We learned a lot about ourselves and our opponent in the last regular season match against Notre Dame ," said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach. "A little lineup change made a big difference and we were able to block more effectively."
In the first game, U of L moved out to a 6-3 lead before NDU tied the score for the first time at 12. The Irish took its only lead of the game at 18-17 on a kill by Megan Fesl. The Cardinals couldn't shake the Irish but maintained the lead under the power of .531 hitting. The Cardinals got a bit of breathing room with a 25-22 lead on a kill by Tatyana Kolesnikova. The teams traded points before the Cardinals ran off three straight to get to game point at 29-24. A service error by Fesl tipped the game to the Cardinals. U of L was led by Jana Matiasovska's six kills on six swings and no errors.
The Cardinals used a 7-0 run early in the second game to go up 12-6. Notre Dame had to burn both timeouts, taking the second trailing 17-10 after a four-point run. The Cards hit .308 and outblocked the Irish 6-2. Kolesnikova had 10 kills in the second frame to lead the Cardinals.
In the third game, U of L took its first lead at 7-6 and then built the lead to seven forcing Notre Dame to call time and earning Coach Debbie Brown a yellow card in the process. The Irish seemed re-energized as they went off on a 6-2 run to come within three at 17-14 and force Yelin to call time out. The Cards regrouped and built on their lead, going up 21-16 but the Irish weren't giving up. NDU came to within two at 22-20 on a hitting error by Louisville and a kill by Megan Fesl.
