University of Louisville
Wake Forest
Volleyball Outlasts Demon Deacons at IU
September 05, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 5, 2008
Justine Landi had a career-high 20 kills to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-1 win over Wake Forest in the first round of the Indiana adidas Classic Friday afternoon in Bloomington, Ind.
The Cardinals improve to 2-0 with the 25-22, 30-28, 21-25, 25-19 win to hand Wake Forest its first loss in four matches. U of L will play Valparaiso later Friday evening as collegiate volleyball action continues in Assembly Hall.
U of L, the leading blocking team in the nation last season, outblocked the Deacons 16-5. Lecia Brown had 10 blocks to lead the Cardinals with freshman Gwen Rucker adding six. Anastasia Artemeva and Tatyana Kolesnikova joined Landi in double digit kills with 14 and 10 respectively. Plagued by 12 service errors, the Cardinals .268 hitting saved the day. The Deacons were powered by Penn State transfer Natalie Mullikin, who had a match-high 22 kills and two blocks.
Down two seniors with Jana Matiasovska in a boot and Rui Liu with a rolled ankle, the Cardinals had five freshmen contributing to the win.
"This was the first road game for our freshmen and I am really pleased how they mentally handled the ups and downs of the match," said U of L head coach Leonid Yelin. "A few times they got a bit tight and didn't click together like they have been in practice but they got their confidence back and pushed through it."
In the first set, U of L hit .455 to stave off a game Wake Forest crew that had the lead at 20-19. U of L ran off three straight to go up 22-20, powered by two straight Anastasia Artemeva kills. She also had two of the final three kills for the 25-22 win. Both teams had two blocks.
"Wake Forest is the kind of team that doesn't give up and don't make unforced errors. They pressured us the entire match. Even down two sets, they were fighting every point," said Yelin.
In the second set, after 15 tie and seven lead changes, U of L was up 22-19 and about to close when Wake Forest reeled off four straight and forced a Cardinal timeout. A kill by Natalie Mullikin took WFU to game point at 24-23. A kill by Justine Landi and a block by Gwen Rucker took U of L to game point at 25-24, but WFU staved off the win and tied it at 26, 27 and 28. Artemeva and Lecia Brown each had kills and a lift call tipped the set to Louisville 30-28. The Cardinals were led by Landi's eight kills and Browns five blocks in that set. U of L had few answers for the offense of WFU's Natalie Mullikin's 16 kills before the break.
Wake Forest battled to a 24-21 win in the third set behind .270 hitting in another tight battle that saw eight ties and five lead changes. After tying at 18, the Deacons managed to outscore the Cardinals 7-3 down the stretch for the win.
In the final set, U of L went up 13-9 in the early going but the Deacons battled back to within one at 17-16. The Cardinals regrouped and went on a 8-3 run for the win.
