University of Louisville
UCLA
Volleyball Falls to No. 5 UCLA
September 01, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2007
Jana Matiasovska's 15 kills were not enough to help the Cardinals overcome the No. 5-ranked UCLA Bruins as the University of Louisville fell 3-0 in the first match of the Hawaiian Airlines Classic in Honolulu.
U of suffered its first loss of the season to post a 3-1 record. UCLA improves to 2-1. U of L will face No. 16 Hawai'i Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
"It is such a helpful experience to play one of the top teams in the nation in front of a great crowd and in a prestigious volleyball environment. It is a be great test in season to see where we stand and what we have to do to improve," said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach.
U of L hit .196 for its lowest hitting percentage of the young season but did outblock the Bruins 5.5 to 3.5. The Cardinals were plagued by 14 service errors and were aced six times.
In the first game, the Cardinals stayed close and even tied at 21 but .128 hitting did not help the cause. U of L was led by Jana Matiasovska's six kills. UCLA's Ali Daley had seven kills with her teammates connecting for a .261 hitting percentage.
In the second game, U of L trailed 16-10 and then scored six straight points to tie at 16. UCLA answered with six of its own. U of L ried at 22 and then took a two point lead at 25-23 on a block by Rui Liu and Tatyana Kolesnikova. UCLA regrouped and ran off five straight to go up 28-25. A service error by Kaitlin Sather and a hitting error by Ali Daley cut the margin to one before a Cardinal service error gave UCLA game point. Daley notched the game winning kill for the Cards. U of L hitting improved to .250 but serving errors hurt the Cardinals. UCLA hit just .196 in that game but had three aces.
U of L fell behind 7-2 in the third game and the Bruins continued to build on that lead, going up 23-14 and forcing Yelin to use his final timeout. The Cardinals could not stave off the relentless Bruins and fell 30-21 for the match.
Daley ended the match with a team-high 14 kills. Tatyana Kolesnikova had six kills with libero Lindsey Mango recording 10 digs.
