University of Louisville
Miami (Ohio)
Volleyball Beats Miami of Ohio 3-2
September 19, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 19, 2008
Jana Matiasovska had 18 kills and three blocks to lead the University of Louisville volleyball team to a 3-2 win over Miami of Ohio in the first round of the Dayton Flyer Classic Friday evening in Frericks Center in Dayton.
The win was the first victory in a five set match for the Cardinals, who even their record at 4-4 with the 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-13 tally. Miami move to 6-4 and were led by Emily Schroeder's 17 kills.
"We lost three five-set matches this season, but we are finally over the hump, maybe not forever, with this team as young as they are but a great step," said U of L head coach Leonid Yelin.
U of L had three other hitters post double digit kills with Gwen Rucker adding 12, Tatyana Kolesnikova and Justine Landi each had 10. The Cardinals were outblocked 7-6 but the Redhawks .301 to .237. Lindsey Mango added 12 digs and Gosia Lech added 41 assists. Neither team benefited from a ration of service errors with U of L posting eight and MU shanking nine.
"It was good to have Jana (Matiasovska) back," said Yelin. "She is a senior and it helps our setter to have more experienced hitters out there to choose from. Our two freshmen setters are still learning and it is a lot for them to have to learn on the fly in game situations, but I see them learning fast."
In the first set, U of L hit .385 led by Lecia Brown's four kills on four attacks . The Redhawks threatened late in the set when they pulled to within two at 20-18. But two consecutive kills by Gwen Rucker sparked the Cardinal offense as they pushed to the 25-21 win.
Louisville seemingly had the second set in hand after using a 10-2 run early to go up 13-5. But the Redhawks battled back to tie at 16 and then scrambled to a 25-23 win. MU's Maria Leahy had five kills to spark the Redhawks. Despite outhitting their opponent .250 to .200, the Cardinals were uncharacteristically outblocked 3-2.
U of L fell behind midway through the third set, trailing 17-15, before going on a 10-2 run for the 25-19 win. Freshman middle Gwen Rucker had four kills on five attacks and no errors with two blocks to lead the Cardinals. MU hit just .152 in that set and had three service errors.
The Redhawks forced a fifth set by hitting .312 and in the fourth set. U of L was losing 9-4 early in the set and came back to tie at 14. MU had a 5-0 run and then closed the deal with the 25-21 win.
The young Cardinals who had as many as three freshmen on the floor at the same time, were up 6-3, fell behind 8-7 but strung together a 5-1 run to go up 12-9. Two straight Jana Matiasovska kills took the Cardinals to match point at 14-11. But MU wasn't done and scored on a kill by Andrea Atteberry and a Cardinal ball handling error to come within one at 14-13. A hitting error by Megan Griffin gave U of L the set and match.
